Little Firefly
by MoonRainShadow
Summary: Onigakure: The great demon village no one knows anything about. When a new face wanders into Konoha asking for anwers concerning an old legend everyone is greatly confused. Why does this girl look so familiar? Is there hope to find Naruto after so long?
1. Chapter 1

Hi Everyone

**Hi Everyone! I've had this idea for forever so I decided to write it. Since I already have another story I'm gonna need some reviews to know if I should continue or not. Tell me what you think! I'm sorry for any grammar errors or spelling. I have spell check but that doesn't always work!**

**Btw! Some things you might want to know.**

**Oni – Demon**

**Imouto – little sister**

**Aniki – big brother**

**Houtaru – firefly**

**Takeru – warrior**

**Nozomi - Hope**

"Imouto! Happy Birthday! Papa and Mama said they have a big surprise for us! And we have a big party with all the villagers today to!" a young boy said while bounding into a room in search of his twin sister. He was the older of the two but he was still short for his age, though well-built for an eleven-year-old. He had big white pupil-less eyes that were just barely tinted blue. His hair was a black-blue color that spiked out in all directions. He wore a skin-tight white shirt and black shinobi pants a kunai holster and shuriken pouch in their proper places. He still had much of his baby-fat that made him rather cute but it was clear that when he grew up he would be just as much of a lady killer as his father had been.

He looked around his sister's room, expecting her to be sprawled out across her mattress with her favorite sleeping cap still nestled on her head. However her futon was folded up neatly in a corner. He noticed all her close were gone as well as her signature goggles and in the center of the room there was a note and a brightly wrapped package.

He walked over to the note and read:

**Happy Birthday Aniki! **

**Sorry I'm not there to celebrate but I'm going to be gone for a while.**

**And don't be all "She didn't take me with her" and all that crap. I asked you if you wanted to go.**

**Open the package! It's for you!**

**Give my love to Papa and Mama. **

**Love Houtaru.**

**P.S. I would suggest not trying to fallow me. I've set up booby-traps!**

As the boy read the letter his eyes widened with realization. He remembered that his sister did indeed ask her to go with him.

_: Flash Back:_

_Two children sat watching the sun rise over their village. It was a place that they both adored very much and would protect with their lives. Their father had started this village almost fifteen years ago when he was only eighteen. They watched as the children played in the street and they watched the sun rise over the Great Mountain Range the faced the east: towards the rest of the world. Over those mountains lied the other five great shinobi nations and the people who had done so much wrong to the people here. _

_Most of the villagers here were exiles or runaways from their villages. They had all managed to find their way here: the place where if you had a good heart you could find a place among the people. Onigakure: The Hidden Demon Village. _

_The village had always been prosperous. Rarely trading with the other nations and rarely even communicating with them. There really was no need. It was run by their father: the Onikage and his council of his eight most trusted advisors. Only people in this village knew the name and face of their leader and council, and they all adored him and trusted him. _

"_Takeru?" a quiet feminine voice said. The boy in question looked over at his twin, knowing that her voice was always soft but rarely quiet._

"_Nani?" he asked. _

_She sighed "What do you think it's like past the mountains?" She asked gazing towards the rising sun. _

"_I don't know. When you asked papa that yesterday afternoon he had to leave, so I take it that it wouldn't be anyplace we would want to go." He responded simply. _

"_I know. That's what scares me. Papa said he and mama comes from Konoha in Fire Country. I know that papa was exiled but he's never really said anything about it. What do you think they did to him that was so bad? I want to find out!" She said more loudly standing up know. "I want to go there and find out. I want to see the place where our parents grew up. I don't want to do anything to the village; papa told me revenge only leads to misery but….I want to know! And I'm going to go there and find out dattebayo!" _

_Takeru studied his sister for a moment. She was the same height as he was with a mane of long, spiky golden hair pulled up into two pigtails on either side of her round face. Everyone commented how she looked so much like there father, both inside and out. She had the same cerulean blue eyes that he did, however hers sported a pearl pupil in the center. Her face had three scratch marks on either side of her face. Her body was well toned but her feminine features were already starting to show. Everyone said that she would be just as, if not more beautiful than their mother, who had one of the best bodies known to anyone. She wore a skin-tight, short-sleeve black shirt the only covered her chest and upper arms with an orange spiral on the back, over a long fishnet one and black pants that only came to her mid-calf. _

_She also sported a pair of green goggles on her forehead, given to her by her father when they turned three. She had always been more confident than her brother, and had a heart as big as her fathers. She also seemed to poses her father's special gift; she could make anyone she meets become her friend; not to mention she shared her father's gift of pranks. _

"_Houtaru…" he started but then sighed. When his sister got an idea in her head there was really no stopping her. _

"_Do you want to come with me?" His head shot up at this and he stared at his sister. When he didn't respond she asked again "When I go, do you want to come with me?" _

"_I think that I should stay here. I'm not as brave as you are. Besides I want to stay here and train. Mama still has so much to teach me, papa too." He said however there was a slight blush evident on his cheeks. _

_Houtaru laughed "You just want to stay here with Nozomi." She said referring to her best friend, the red haired girl who was the daughter of their father's most trusted advisor. _

"_So!?" his reaction only caused his sister to laugh harder. _

_She shook her head causing her pigtails to fly out around her head "Your right. You do need to train. When I become Onikage I don't plan to have a weak second in command." _

_Takeru smiled at his sister. It was true. One day they planned to rule over Oni and protect all it's people; Houtaru as the Onikage and Takeru as her second. _

_They sun had finally risen so they hurried home to whatever delicious meal their mother had prepared. Houtaru hadn't brought up the subject again. _

_: End:_

He looked over to the package, picked it up and opened it. He felt a tear stream down his cheek as he pulled out an Oni forehead protector. They had ninja in the village but him and his sister hadn't joined their ranks yet. He knew only his father could make him a ninja but he felt proud knowing that his sister had given him this. He had always felt less than her, like she was so much better than he was. She was a hard worker and was very powerful. He felt as if they were now equal for some reason and promised to work harder as he tied the black cloth around his neck.

"_Good luck Imouto. You're going to need it to get past papa." _

Farther away in the forest surrounding the beautiful city a young girl moved quickly through the forest. She was sure she had set up enough traps and left early enough to not be caught.

"Oof!" She said as she ran into something hard and fell on her butt. She looked up expecting to see a tree but instead saw a man with blue eyes, unruly golden hair wearing a black coat with orange flames at the bottom and the kanji for "Nine" and "Leader" on the back. He also sported a black forehead protector, much like the one she left for her brother, on his forehead.

She smiled innocently up at her father "uhh…..hi?"

"Did you really think you could get that far?" He asked. His deep voice showed more humor than anger at his youngest child. He voice suddenly turned serious "Do you have any idea what could happen to you out there?"

Houtaru looked down at her black sandals "I just wanted to know where you and mama came from. I want to see it and listen to the people. I saw it once through your memories and it seemed so beautiful."

"And what happens if you get captured or die?"

"It's not like I'm ever alone." She shot back. It was true, she never really was alone. "I have nine demons watching over me, it's not like their going to let anything happen to me."

The Onikage sighed, knowing she had a point. She had inherited his stubbornness but her mothers reasoning skills. "How long did you plan to leave for?"

"I was considering at least a year. However, I have a plan so you can have me back when you feel necessary?!"

"Oh?"

"Yea! I'll be in the city right? I'll just become a ninja and when you see necessary send a message to them saying you want to pay them to escort the princess. Request there highest ranking genin team and anyone else you see fit. They come west wall and then I announce the mission over and send them on their way."

"You do know how many holes that plan has?" her father asked.

"You do know that it's me? I inherited the trait from you." She said proudly referring to the fact that with them plans just seemed to work best when they didn't plan the details.

He sighed again "Go then. Don't let anyone know your last name and village." He then threw her a package "And remember my little firefly, no matter what symbol you where there, you are a shinobi of Oni. Happy birthday." He said before disappearing.

He knew that this was probably a bad idea. He never wanted her to go to the village but a part of him said that she would find out eventually anyways. Might as well be the way she wants.

She opened the package and smiled as she saw the same headband she had given Takeru; she traced over the simple spiral in the center of the metal plate. She was tempted to put in on right them but decided it best to wait until after she returned so she wouldn't be identified. She slipped the headband in her backpack and smiled.

She took of again through the forest. She ran until she reached the top of the mountains. She looked out over the surrounding area. She saw the sun barely starting to rise and held out her fist towards it.

"Look out world! Here comes Uzumaki Houtaru! Daughter of the Onikage, Uzumaki Naruto and Uzumaki Hinata! Future Onikage and Demon Lord! Container and friend of the Nine Great Bijuu!"

"**Oh for the love of Kami here she goes again!" **

"_Shut up Shikaku! This is the last time I get to say all that for a while so deal with it!" _

"**The kit has a point. Her father was worse." **Another voice said,

"_Thank you Kyu-chan_"

"**My little kitten, only you could call him that and get away with it." **A feminine voice purred out.

"**Don't encourage her, Ni-bi." **Kyubi grumbled.

Houtaru smiled at her friend's antics and continued walking towards her parent's old home.

**So what did y'all think? If you have any questions ask and I will answer. Again sorry for any errors. I NEED REVEIWS! **


	2. Chapter 2

Ok here's the next chapter

**Ok here's the next chapter! This probably answers a few questions from my last chapter. I'm going to try to make my chapters longer but I can't make it to long or else they'll take longer to post. Another story I've got has really long chapter and my Beta's had the next chapter since February and not working on it because its so long. **

**Some questions I got: **

**myrthill : Yes she really does hold ALL of the nine bijuu, and yes she is better than all the Kages combined. But she's not that strong yet because she's eleven. And her going back is actually going to be very interesting. However no one will recognize her for a while because she doesn't have Hyuga eyes and doesn't actually use byakugan because she's only fighting at Genin level so there's no reason for her to bring out her version of byakugan. I loved your review! **

**Translations: **

**Aoi-byakugan – blue byakugan. **

Naruto returned home to see nine faces looking at him expectedly. Knowing what they wanted to hear he simply shrugged "I let her go."

"What do you mean you let her go?!" a girl with feline features sporting a purple jacket with a number two on the back.

"Are you sure that was the wisest idea Onikage-sama?" an elder mad said ignoring the first girls comment. The man was older than the rest wearing a brown jacket with the kanji for "four" on his back.

"I think it was for the best. She needed to learn about the rest of the world somehow. She has more than enough power and control the make sure nothing bad happens. If I think it's time for her to return I have a plan set to do so." Naruto said simply before going over to peck a worried looking Hinata on the cheek "She'll be fine love."

"I know" Hinata sighed "She's just never been anywhere besides this village before."

"She has a point Naruto-san." Gaara stated

"I see no problem with it. If you all can remember correctly the Bijuu have taken a liking to her. They will tell her if she's gone astray." A woman wearing the kanji for "eight" said.

The others pondered this for a minute before Gaara spoke again "She is your child Naruto. Able to make friends with the most powerful demons in our world." He shook his head "She'll be fine."

The others nodded in agreement before Two spoke again "I suppose if one of them is here we might as well still have a party." with that eight of the people poofed from the room.

Hinata sat down at the table and put her head on her hands. "Do you think anyone will recognize her? She has your looks and her aoi-byakugan."

"She's smart. She's young but she's smart." Naruto replied.

"I never wanted her to go there." Hinata said meekly looking at her husband "All the pain they caused you that day."

"If I remember correctly it wasn't everyone."

:Flash Back: 

Naruto and Sasuke trekked back to the village trying to support the others weight. 

About 10 KM away from the village Sasuke muttered "Sorry dobe, I can't move anymore." He said before collapsing onto Naruto "I'll buy you some ramen later." He mumbled before passing out. 

"Stupid teme, always leaving all the work to me" Naruto said though you could see a smile on his face. He had miraculously been able to convince Sasuke to return with him…after getting a whole blown through his chest by chidori and having to use a large amount of Kyubi's chakra that is. But it didn't really matter to him at the moment, all he wanted to do was get home and make sure all his friends were ok. He even had the surprising urge to see Hinata; he didn't know why he just did. 

Naruto managed to hoist Sasuke up and drag him the remaining way to the gate. Sakura was there and she looked angry. Why would she be angry with him? Naruto thought as he got closer only to have Sakura punch him and pull Sasuke away from him and kicking him again. 

"What the hell is wrong with you!" She yelled cradling Sasuke closer to her. 

"B-but I brought him back." Naruto managed weakly only to be punched again. He didn't have the strength to get up so he just stared in horror at his teammate. 

"I told you to bring him back! Not to almost kill him! I bet you enjoyed it didn't you? Being able to beat him up when he was obviously going through something bad. You're a fucking monster Naruto. Stay away form me and my Sasuke-kun!" she said before turning around only to see a very angry looking Tsunade and Jeraiya. "Thank goodness you're here Hokage-same. I can't beat up this worthless piece of trash by myself." 

Sakura was sent flying back by one of Tsunade's punches. She held her now broken nose as blood came gushing out of it "Haruno Sakura, from this day forward you are relieved form further ninja duties. You are a disgrace to this village." 

"What about him?" Sakura said pointing Naruto "He deserves to be put to sleep like the animal he is!" 

This time it was Jeraiya who gave a blow to the girl and ripped off her headband. He said nothing just walked and stood over Sasuke studying him. 

"Don't hurt him ero-sennin." He looked over to see Naruto smiling weakly at him "He came back on his our accord." Jeraiya nodded before picking Sasuke up off the ground while Tsunade rushed to grab Naruto as they ran to the hospital. 

**Two hours later**

Tsunade walked into Naruto's room with a tired look on her face, her eyes red and puffy as if she had been crying. Naruto looked up from his bandaged hands. His eyes matched Tsunade's, for he hadn't been able to get what Sakura said out of his mind. He had considered her one of his precious people and she had betrayed him.

Tsunade walked up and pulled Naruto to her and started crying on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry Naruto! So, so sorry!" Naruto returned the embrace waiting for his mother figure to compose herself or continue "It was either this or death. And if I said no they would've taken it into their own hands!" 

"I've been exiled haven't I?" Naruto asked quietly. This only caused Tsunade to cry harder.

"All of us tried to help! The Inuzaka's, Nara's, Aburame's, Akimichi's, Yamanaka's, and even the Hyuga's representative tried to stop it! But the council heads swore that you attacked a loyal member of Konoha and committed treason. The villagers will back up their statements." She sobbed uncontrollably. 

Naruto smiled slightly at the fact that all of his friend's families tried to help. His eyes darkened again and then his face became emotionless.

"Then I will leave quietly." 

Tsunade's tears stopped and she looked up at her son "N-naruto?"

Naruto looked at her and nodded "There is no reason to put up a fight. It will only cause trouble for you. So I will go." Tsunade didn't even try to argue with Naruto. She could tell by the low, formal way he spoke that it was final.

"Then let me come with you." She started but Naruto immediately shook his head.

"You need to stay here and watch over the village my father worked so hard to protect." Tsunade looked at the blonde in shock "I've know for a while now. Kyubi told me."

"I'll miss you Oba-chan. I'll see you again." And with that Naruto disappeared leaving his forehead protector on the desk beside him, for his injuries had healed already so there was no reason for him to stay. He wished he could say goodbye to his friends but it would only cause trouble if a villager saw him. 

Naruto ran to his apartment and gathered all of his positions before heading out and appearing next to the west gate. He looked towards the Hokage Monument and eyed the Fourth as a single tear escaped his eye "Bye Tou-san. I hope you forgive the village, I have no qualms except for having to leave my precious people."

"NARUTO-KUN!" a soft voice yelled. He turned to see Hinata running towards him with tears in her eyes. 

She ran up to Naruto and flung herself on him in a hug that sent both of them crashing to the ground. She cried and held onto him for dear life, not caring how compromising the position they were in was. 

Her father had come home with a sad look on his face and brought her to the living room. He sat her down "Hinata, Naruto has returned from the mission with only minor damage and is now in the hospital recovering."

Hinata let out a sigh of relief but wondered why her father was talking to her about such matters. "Hinata the boy has been exiled."

Hinata's eyes widened. She had looked at her father begging for it to be a joke but he just shook his head. "Hinata you are my daughter. My only concern is for your happiness though I realize this has not appeared so in the past. If he makes you happy I will not stop you." 

With that Hisashi gave his daughter a hug and walked out of the room, doing the right thing for his daughter for the first time in her life. 

And now here she was, holding onto her most precious person as if he was her lifeline. 

"Hi-Hinata-chan?" Naruto stuttered as he picked himself up and Hinata off the ground. 

"I'm coming with you" Hinata finally managed to get out after a while. Naruto finally noticed the backpack on her back. 

"Hinata, it will be dangerous and-"

"I don't care!" Naruto was taken aback by her sudden outburst "A-as long as I know y-you're ok. I w-would hate to be a-away from you. You're my most precious person and I've admired you for some time now. I'm not going to let you be alone anymore. You're to kind and caring. You deserve a family that will stay with you and I have nothing left here if you leave. Let me be your family from now on Naruto-kun." 

Naruto pulled Hinata into a hug "Arigato Hinata-chan" 

"_**Looks like you've found a mate, kit**_**."** Kyubi's voice said from inside his head.

"_Are you ok Kyubi? I used a bit of your chakra back there." _

"_**I'm getting there, kit. But that's not the reason I'm communicating. We need to talk about your future from this point. I know for the next few years I want to train you. Make you my apprentice you could call it. But after that what do you want to do?" **_

"_Well…I was thinking about that to and well…I wanted to create someplace. Someplace that outcasts and runaways can go and live together and start families without being judged." _

"_**That's….wonderful. I guess I could even say I'm proud of you. So how would you like to start?" **_

"_Well why don't we start with the training then I can figure out what to do from there. However I'm going to pay you back for this somehow Kyubi." _

"_**I think I've got an idea of how you can do that kit. This will help with your little mission there also." **_

"_What?"_

"_**Who are the people who are rejected most in society?" **_

Naruto thought about this for a minute before his head snapped up in realization _"Jinchuriki." _

"_**Excactly. And which people have my only remaining demon kin left?" **_

"_The other jinchuriki...Gaara." _

"I think we know what we're going to do next." Naruto said coming back to earth. Hinata just looked at him in confusion. Naruto realized he was going to have to tell her about Kyubi so he led her into the forest beyond the gate and did just that. 

To his surprise she had embraced him in a hug crying on his shoulder. "Those bastards! How dare they do that to you. I always knew you were hurt but for something that you can't control." 

Naruto sat stunned at hearing Hinata cuss. "It's ok. I think I turned out alright." 

Hinata nodded in agreement. "So where are we off to now?" 

"Suna. We're going to find Gaara and have him join us. Then we're going to go find seven more people and have them join us as well."

:End: 

"You know I have been thinking lately and I think our village genin might just be joining Konoha for their next chunin exams." Naruto said to his wife.

"Cool! Tou-san we could have a whole big thing! Kinda like an official introduction to Oni thing. We could make a big deal out of it and bring everyone to Konoha!" Takeru said excitedly forgetting that he was supposed to be hiding.

"Takeru!" Hinata said harshly.

"What have I taught you about spying?" Naruto said as Takeru hung his head and Hinata looked proud at her husband for scolding his child. "Stay hidden! And for the love of Kami boy! You have byakugan! You shouldn't even have to be in the same room to spy on us!"

Hinata sweat dropped and smacked her head as she watched her sons eyes go wide as he put his father's advice to memory.

Giving Naruto a smack over the head Hinata walked over and gave her son a warm hug. "Happy birthday Takeru." She held him at arms length to exam him. She nodded approvingly "Looks older, doesn't he Naruto?"

Naruto looked over his son "Son, are you shorter than you were yesterday?"

Hinata frowned "Don't listen to your tou-san. If I remember correctly enough he was shorter than me until we were fifteen."

Takeru looked up at his father, who had to be a good six feet two inches. "R-really?"

"It's the sad truth. Don't worry; you'll probably sprout up in a few years." Naruto assured his son.

"Takeru, what's around your neck?" Hinata asked her son, noticing the hitate on his neck.

"Houtaru gave it to me as a present." He said "So I guess she went to Fire County?"

"Yes. But I'm glad she gave you that. That was part of your surprise today. Uzumaki Takeru, today I am officially making you a member of Onigakure's Shinobi's Ranks as a genin." Naruto said in an official voice he had acquired over the years.

"T-tou-san." Takeru managed to stutter "ArigatoTou-san!"

He got up and hugged his father. "What about the academy?" He knew most kids had to go to the academy to become shinobi.

"By the time we started the academy you were already more advanced in your training than the other children. Besides, for the sake of the teachers we decided to keep Houtaru out of the academy." Hinata explained. Takeru nodded knowing very well that his mother wasn't referring to the fact that his twin sister was the container of nine bijuu but the fact that she was the known prankster of the village and would probably cause any teacher to go legally insane.

"Tou-san, aren't I supposed to have a team." Takeru asked.

"Why yes, actually you're going to be on a team with your sister, but she'll have to join you after she returns. You're sensei will be your uncle Gaara and you're third member will be-" Naruto was abruptly interrupted by the sound of the front door opening to reveal a girl with short red hair and teal eyes the same age as the twins.

She smiled and walked over to Takeru and gave him a warm hug. "Happy birthday Takeru-kun" She said quietly and calmly. She tried to pull away but noticed Takeru had gone limp, his faced turned a beet red.

Naruto laughed outloud at the confused look on the young girls face "Don't worry Nozomi, it's his way of saying he likes you." He then turned to Hinata "He may have gotten my height issues but that he inherited that form you."

**The road to Konoha**

"_**We're walking, we're walking……we're walking some more."**_

"_Shut it you senile raccoon!"_

"_**What? I'm bored!" **_

"_We're almost there." _

"_**Kit, I would like it if you summoned one of us. You're father wasn't treated right the earlier years of his life and I don't want to think you might be treated the same way." **_

"_Arigato Kyu-chan. You're always looking out for me and since you know the village the best why don't you come out with me?"_

Houtaru stopped and preformed a few hand seals, bit her thumb and preformed a summoning seal. Once the smoke cleared she kneeled down next to Kyubi at pet the top of his head. "You're so cute!"

And he was. Instead of the giant nine-tailed demon there stood a cute little one-tailed fox cub with big red eyes.

"…**.you turned me into a living stuffed animal!"** Kyubi yelled.

"Hey! You have to look innocent and I haven't managed to figure out how to make you look like a adult fox yet! It was either you in you're full form or this." Houtaru said before continuing on down the road.

The little fox followed behind muttering something about how eating people is better than being eaten by little girls.

"You might want to take you're hitate off." She said referring to the hitate that all the Bijuu now wore showing alliance with Oni. "And no speaking when we're in public." Kyubi nodded removing the piece of cloth from his neck and giving it to Houtaru.

They stayed quiet for most of the rest of the journey occasionally stopping for some water. Finally Houtaru laughed and picked up the little fox with a giggle.

"**May I ask what you are doing?"** The all powerful bijuu asked.

"One: this makes you look more like my pet which is the role you're going to play while we're in Konoha. Two: you're just so darn cute!" Houtaru explained.

Houtaru stopped and looked up at the giant wall ahead of them with the fire symbol on the top. "It's not as big as the wall around Oni but it's still pretty magnificent." Kyubi nodded in response knowing glaring at the guards who were posted at the top of the wall. Ironically enough this was the very wall that her parents had left from.

"Halt! State your name and business in Konoha." Houtaru took a deep breath and turned around. _"Here goes nothing." _

**I'm not going to elaborate anymore on the council in Oni. For now I'm just going to call them names like "Four" and "Two" ect. **

**Ok so here's the second chapter and like I said before sorry about any mistakes I made. If you have any comments or questions I will answer them. **


	3. Chapter 3

Translations –

**Next Chapter! This one's longer!**

**Translations – **

**otoo-ji - uncle**

**Oji-san – grandfather **

**Michi – righteous **

**Shika- female deer**

**Kenta – healthy and stout**

**Yoshio – quiet **

**Airi – beloved lavender**

**Toshiro - talented**

**I thought I would clear something up for y'all. This is seventeen years in the future. Naruto left Konoha at the age of twelve and six years later founded Onigakure. Later that same year Hinata had Houtaru and Takeru. So everyone is now 29 or 30 years old. **

"Halt, state your name and business in Konoha." Houtaru took a deep breath and turned around slowly _"Here goes nothing"_ She said as she made sure to make her chakra appear as if she was just a genin.

"Konichiwa, my name is Houtaru. Ona…I was wondering if you could take me to see the Hokage." She said trying to act as innocent as possible.

"The Hokage is a very busy person. Why would she make time for you?" The guard said with an air of arrogance in his voice. Though he tried to appear unconcerned she noticed he was studying her thoroughly.

"Because, isn't the leader of a village supposed to make time for everyone?" Houtaru asked, this time genuinely confused. That was one of her fathers most vital morals; he made time to see everyone if they needed something. No matter who they were or what they were he listed to them.

The guard sighed "I suppose I could take you to see her. You seem knew around here. Where are you from?" The guard asked and started leading her through the village.

Houtaru didn't answer as she took in the sight of the village and the Hokage monument. They had a mountain like that at home but it had her father's faces as well as those in his council. She noticed it was very bright here and seemed very peaceful. However she couldn't help but feel that the village was somehow lacking something, like something was missing. It felt almost dead.

Then she noticed something else; everyone was staring at her. She looked around and people were openly staring at her. Some with a bit of hate but most with a look of distant hope on there faces. "Why are they all looking at me like that?" She asked the guard.

He simply sighed and shook his head sadly before answering "You look like someone from this village's past. Someone who most everyone here misses and we didn't know we would until after he was gone. And that little fox you're holding doesn't help either."

"Oh" she said keeping her eyes down and letting her spiky bangs fall over her eyes. This soon proved to be a bad idea for she soon bumped into someone and fell.

"Gomen, gomen." She said before looking up and into a pair of pearly white eyes. They reminded her of her mothers however these weren't tinted lavender and held signs of age and regret. She looked at the man she had bumped into then. He looked to be old as his long hair was graying and wore the nice clothes of a prestigious clan.

"I apologize Lord Hyuga. I should have been watching her more closely" the guard tried to explain. Houtaru froze; Hyuga was her mother's maiden name.

"No need." The man, Lord Hyuga, said as he held out a hand to help Houtaru up and smiled at her.

Houtaru returned the smile and bowed again uttering more thanks and apologies before running to catch up to the guard who had already started walking.

Hisashi Hyuga watched the girl walk off before shaking his head and continued his walk _"Kami-sama, please let that girl be who I think she is." _

As they continued the track through the village she decided to ask the guard another question "That was Lord Hyuga?"

"Yes it was. I haven't seen him smile in a long time. He used to be the head of the Hyuga house but retired from the position a few years ago. It caused quite a change because his first born had run away years prior and….sorry, I've said too much." He said but it was enough.

"_Oji-san"_ Houtaru thought _"So that means that…"_ She looked up at the mountain at the fourth head in the row _"That must be my other Oji-san."_ She knew of her family heritage well as she studied the face carved in stone.

She tapped Kyubi and pointed to the head of the fourth and he nodded.

"Ok watch you step now." The guard said leading her up some stairs and then into a hallway. They came to a door at the end of the hallway and Houtaru detected at least twenty chakra signatures in the room and could hear muffled voices arguing.

The guard knocked on the door and the voices died down. "What?" A voice called from inside. The guard opened the door but stood in Houtaru's way so she couldn't see anyone. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Gomen, Hokage-same, there was a girl at the gate and she requested to see you." The guard managed the stutter out. "I think you might be interested in this." He said before stepping to the side and the room went quiet.

Houtaru walked into the room not even looking around to see who was staring at her. She took a few steps and then bowed to the Godaime, a woman with honey blonde hair who looked to be in her mid-twenties and had a giant bust.

"Konichiwa, I apologize if I'm intruding on anything. My matters are probable less important than the ones at hand. Would you like me to come back later?" Houtaru asked politely and continued to bow. After a few minutes of bowing she looked up to see that everyone was staring at her with shocked expressions still on their face.

"_This is bad…this is really, really bad."_ She thought to herself.

The Hokage seemed to regain her composition first. "No, no it's ok. What may I help you with?"

Houtaru decided to ignore the others in the room "Yes. I would like to ask about possibly becoming a member of Konoha and a genin. I was part of a group of nomads who was recently destroyed by a group of bandits. I have basic ninja training and was hoping to join the ranks here, Hokage-sama. I also have some questions referring a certain person I know of."

Houtaru could see hope leave the woman's eyes as she told her the lies she had created only a few seconds ago. "That might be possible seeing as you say you have no other relations to speak of. I see no reason for you not to try your hand and the genin exam at the academy tomorrow. However what's your name and age?"

"Wait a second Hokage-same." A desperate sounding voice said. Houtaru looked to find that the voice belonged to a man with black hair and eyes. He was handsome but looked worn out. He turned to Houtaru "Maybe the group she was part of was-"

"Sasuke please, no more searching. It hurts us all so much. I know you want him to come back but the searches ended twelve years ago." A woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes asked. _"Sasuke…"_

"Ino's right Sasuke. I don't want to believe it either but there's a chance he just isn't coming back." Another woman said who was wearing a Chinese style shirt and her hair up in two buns. _"Ino…."_

"TenTen, I know that it seems hard to do but please have more faith." _"TenTen…"_ She couldn't help but think of all the stories her parents had told her about their old friends. She could remember the names and it was interesting seeing them in person. "Hinata-chan's also out there and I miss her to." Houtaru's ears rose hearing her mother's name and looked at a man with long, coffee colored hair and white pupil-less eyes.

"_That's my otoo-ji. Neji."_ Houtaru smiled at her revelation.

"Enough of this!" the Hokage yelled slamming her hand down on her desk and breaking it. "We stopped looking for him because we had to! The second Demon Country came into existence was the second he became second on our list of priorities. No one knows yet if Oni is a threat to us or not. He would want us to protect this country before going to look for him."

"_Oni! A threat?" _Houtaru thought before realizing that no one really had any idea of what Oni was.

"Ona.." Houtaru said reminding the room of her presence. She felt all eyes on her again. She felt Kyubi wriggle around in her arms so she put him not and he curled up at her feet. This action, however left her hands unoccupied so she stared twiddling her fingers together. "It may be none of my business but….if you cared about him, you need to go out and search for him and never give up hope." She noticed how Sasuke's eyes rose at this but she wasn't done yet "However, if you trust him then believe that he will come back on his own and never give up hope. It's good to chase after someone in the beginning but after a while just trust them to come back."

The room went silent for a while "I apologize that you had to hear that. Now you never answered my questions." The hokage said to the strange new girl.

"My name is Houtaru and I turned eleven two days ago." The journey from Oni to Konoha had indeed taken her three days.

"So your name is Houtaru, ne? Do you think you could afford an apartment?" Houtaru nodded knowing that her frog shaped wallet was full with lots of money she had earned back in Oni. "Ok then. I think we have room in the southern part of town. You can go to the academy tomorrow and try to pass the genin exam. If you pass you'll make you a genin and put on in a three man cell." Houtaru nodded as her teacher explained the rules of being a ninja which Houtaru had memorized by heart at the age of three. The Godaime also explained where her new apartment would be located and the academy.

"Anything else you would like to know?" Houtaru thought about it for a minute before a light went off in her head.

"Ramen! Do you know any good places to buy ramen?!" Houtaru asked excitedly, her stomach getting the better of her.

Everyone in the room felt their eyes widen a bit more at the exclamation. Just then another knock was heard and a man with big white, spiky hair and a scroll tied to his back came into the room.

"Hokage-same, I took my squad out to the Great Mountains." He stated ignoring Houtaru completely.

The Hokage sat up in her seat straighter "And?"

"It's no use. No matter what jutsu we try we can't get past the fog. It's like it turns you around by itself." Houtaru couldn't help but smile for the fog had been her idea, well it had actually been the Rokubi's idea but it still came from her head. "We tried everything! I ever tried to make Gamabunta jump as high as he could to try to see over it but it was useless."

"Hokage-same thank you for all your help, I will make sure to make an appearance for the test tomorrow. I will report back in a week." Houtaru said bowing and excusing herself. She turned around to look at the Hokage once more "I'm not meaning to be rude but I thought the Hokage was in her sixties."

Tsunade's expression told the young blond she was right. She smiled a fox-like grin that she inherited from her father "Arigato then, Oba-sama. Come on Kyu-chan." The fox cub fallowed the girl out and the door closed softly behind her.

"That….that girl. It was N-naruto?" Jeraiya managed to choke out.

"Did anyone besides me see her pupils? They weren't black, they were white." Shikamaru pointed out from his spot next to Temari.

"She-she called me "oba-chan."" Tsunade stuttered. "And I didn't want to hurt her for it." Everyone in the room knew she was referring to the fact that no one had ever dared to call her that except for Naruto.

With that Sasuke left the room. He couldn't take it anymore. He left the building and didn't stop walking until he came to the top of the Hokage Monument. Who was this girl? Where did she come from? Why is she here? Why the hell did she look so much like Naruto!?

Sasuke tired to calm himself but it was pretty much useless. He had always blamed himself for his brother's exile. Once he had woken up in the hospital he had immediately asked for Naruto. The nurse at that time just told him that the pest had already been taken care of. He had eventually been told the news and rushed down to the council room to tell them his opinion.

They had told him it was all a lie. That Naruto had tricked him into believing that he was his friend. Sasuke never believed them. The second he found out what Sakura had said to him he had actually slapped her.

News came in about Hinata and then a few days later Gaara disappeared as well.

Over the years everyone had trained excessively and gone one dozens of missions to try to find their friend but none had succeeded.

Soon everyone started to love their lives again hoping that their friends would return to them again and try to get themselves un-exiled. In honor of their friends they had worked only on making their goals come true

Neji had become the new Hyuga clan head per Hisashi's request. He had the curse seal nullified and the two families mixed. He had married TenTen a few years back and they had a little girl named Michi who was now ending her first year as a genin.

Shikamaru had wised up and became a jounin and married Temari after she decided to move to Konoha and be Suna's ambassador. Shikamaru had become Tsunade's top strategist and after Temari moved to Konoha permanently they had a little girl and since Shikamaru wanted to keep his family's traditions named her Shika who was on the same team as Michi.

The other members on there team were Akamichi Kenta, the son of Choji and Ino. Also Shino had also settled down with a quiet girl and had a little boy names Yoshio; lead by Lee they were the first four man genin cell from Konoha.

Kiba had gone on to train nin-dogs with his family and became a hunter nin.

Sakura basically became a whore. She ran her families shop with her parents and had a different guy every night. She was no longer a ninja so the small percent of the villagers who were glad Naruto had left made her their leader to deal with affairs with the hokage. She had eventually had a kid but no one knew who the father was. She had named her little girl Airi after her bright purple hair. Though her hair wasn't lavender it was more of an Easter purple. **(That color scares me!)**

The village had basically lost all its vigor after Naruto left and the Rookie Nine and Team Guy only went to a select few places to eat and shop: places that had been kind to Naruto. Most of the village fallowed their lead, realizing the wrong they had done to the boy. Ichiraku's had become a very popular eating spot.

Sasuke could never forgive himself. He had basically gone on every mission to find Naruto. Once he even when solo and came back a year later with a baby in his arms. He told everyone that he had found someone that he wanted to be with forever but she had died in child birth. Sasuke, however, was not bitter. He raised that baby boy up with the most love and care anyone had ever seen.

"Toshiro!" Sasuke said remembering it was time to go pick up his son.

Houtaru had decided to go look at the academy first. When she got there she noticed a group of friends chatting with each other. There were five people in all in the group four with Konoha hitates, one with out. The first she noticed solely for her eyes; Hyuga eyes. This girl had her brown hair pulled into a wide bun on the top of her head and had on a maroon colored Chinese-styled shirt and black pants.

The second girl was taller and had four small fans attached to a purple sash around her waist. Her brown hair was pulled up into four pony-tails and she had a lazy air about her. She was talking idly to a boy who had a giant collared over coat, dark-tinted sunglasses and thought Houtaru hater to admit it he kind of creped her out though she had been taught not to judge by appearance alone.

The second guy was the biggest of the group; though it was more heavy muscle than fat. He had short blond hair and was munching happily one some chips.

That's when Houtaru noticed the last boy. In her opinion he was probably the best looking boy she had ever seen and he was the only one without the hitate. He had dark spiky hair and midnight blue eyes that seemed to emit their own light. They held intelligence and strange warmth that seemed to pull her in. Though his expression was cold and uninterested his eyes betrayed him and that's what she liked most about him, not his looks but his eyes. She wanted to become his friend.

That's when she noticed a whorishly dressed girl with long purple hair cling to his arm. She suddenly felt a bubbling feeling in her stomach but it disappeared after the boy shoved the girl away. The girl was dressed in a dark purple, dress thing. It have looked nice however she had it hiked up so you could practically see her butt falling out of it.

She growled as she saw the girl with a giant forehead grab onto his arm again.

"**Jealous are we**?" Kyubi inquired, obviously amused.

"Shut up or I'll let her have you next." Houtaru decided to walk up to the group of friends. She walked over and noticed that the beautiful boy was no longer paying attention to the girl but to her instead.

"Konichiwa, my name is Houtaru and I'm new to the area. You all look around my age group so I was wandering if one of you could maybe show me around?" She asked shyly with a bow.

The girl with the Hyuga eyes approached her first "Konichiwa! My name is Hyuga Michi and these are my teammates, all except for Mr. Joy over there and Forehead; they're both one year younger than us and aren't ninja yet. My specialties are weapons and my family's tijutsu Gentle Fist. I'm working on actually adding weapons to the style."

Michi then looked at the other girl who sighed "Troublesome, but I guess it's inevitable. My names are Nara Shika. I'm on the same team as Michi and I deal with shadows and fans."

"My name is Akamichi Kenta. I deal with my families jutsus which are a combination of Akamichi and Yamanaka." Houtaru smiled at him because he seemed like the friendliest out of the bunch."

"My name is Aburame Yoshio. I deal with bugs" was all the other said before looking away, this guy defiantly gave her the creeps, but she thought that they could get along with time.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" The purple haired girl asked smugly "They're a weird color."

Now, normally Houtaru would just ignore this comment or explain about her eyes but the way the girl said it made her eyes sound like a plague. She noticed Kyubi was growling softly at the girl who was staring at him.

"Awww!" both of the other girls squealed as they noticed Kyubi. Houtaru smiled at them "This is my pet fox, Kyu-chan." The two girls immediately started to hug the chibi fox to them and squeal about how cute it was. Kyubi seemed to be enjoying it as he got his ears scratched.

"What a cute little thing." She said trying to pick him up but he just snapped at her hand and jumped into Houtaru's arms. "Toshiro-kun that bitch was going to let that stupid little animal hurt me!"

However Toshiro didn't respond so the purple haired girl looked at him to see his eyes were now a crimson red.

He had been trying to ignore Airi when he saw a girl her had never seen before and he thought she was the prettiest person he had ever seen. She had golden, spiky hair pulled up into pigtails and her bangs fell around her tan face. She had a toned body for a girl her age and was wearing clothes that would make most girls look trashy but she pulled it off. The things that had him most transfixed were her eyes.

Her eyes were the most caring eyes he had ever seen. They were a cerulean blue that accented her pearl white pupil. She had scratch marks on either sides of her face that reminded him of whiskers and a big, warm, inviting smile on her face.

He had listened to the others introduce themselves but something inside him snap when he heard the Airi insult her beautiful eyes and then flat our call her a bitch. He felt his eyes activate by themselves as he stared at the shallow girl.

"I don't care. You don't call people names simply because their pets have good taste in humans. And you shouldn't really be saying anything about people's features being weird. Your hair is purple and if you haven't noticed: no one had naturally purple hair." He spat at her with venom in every word.

Airi looked like she was about to say something when a woman with pink hair walked up to the group "Airi dear, it's time to go home."

"But oka-san! I want to stay here with Toshiro-kun. Besides I haven't gotten to introduce myself to the new girl yet." Airi whined in her high nasal voice.

"When did we get a new arrival to the city?" Sakura asked her daughter.

"I arrived this afternoon." Houtaru said making her presence known. Sakura turned and gasped when she saw the girl. Her eyes widened in fear and it was replaced by anger. "Sorry sweetie, you can play another time. We're going home now." And with that Sakura dragged the Airi home.

"I don't like her." Houtaru said when the twosome had gotten far enough away.

"If you did, we would all question your sanity." Michi commented.

"Arigato….um….you never told me your name. But it's Toshiro right?" Houtaru asked.

"Uchiha Toshiro. And don't mention it. That girl has it set in her giant head that I'm the love of her life. She really gets on my nerves." Toshiro commented with a scowl.

The group made small talk for a little while; telling Houtaru about the in and outs of the village. The parents of the older four showed up together, obviously surprised about the blond girls presence.

They all said there good-byes without much comment leaving Toshiro and Houtaru alone.

"You know you don't have to stay here with me. My father's probably coming in a few minutes." Toshiro commented, secretly not wanting the girl to leave.

"I have nothing else to do and I don't know anyone else. I'm here alone." Houtaru commented sadly. She was already feeling homesick.

"Do you miss your family?"

"Very much" she responded.

"I couldn't imagine not being with my tou-san. He's always been there for me and taught me everything I know." Toshiro told her.

"Your tou-san sounds nice; a lot like mine. I bet if they ever met they could be could friends." Houtaru commented enjoying the fact that she knew her words were true.

"What happened to them? You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Toshiro asked quietly.

"Bandits attacked the camp while I was out of the camp with Kyu-chan." She lied. For some reason she felt regret, she wanted to tell this boy the truth.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a minute before Houtaru decided she wanted to hear the young Uchiha's voice again "How far along are you in getting the Sharingan?"

Toshiro looked at her questioningly "How go you know about my family's blood line?"

"You pick up a few things when your family travels the way mine did." Houtaru lied again. She had spent hours in her father's library reading about the different clans of Konoha before going on her journey.

"I haven't been able to fully activate it yet. Actually that was the first time, besides when I'm practicing with my otou-san, they have activated without my concentration."

"Maybe they would activate if you had a tough opponent. Maybe we could spar sometime." Houtaru insisted knowing that she could easily beat him.

Toshiro simply nodded and they sat in a comfortable silence for a while "So" Houtaru began with a smirk on her face "I personally think that you and Airi make a wonderful couple! The children would be precious!" She really wanted to know if he liked Airi, though she would never say that to anyone.

Toshiro, however, was taken aback by this question. He couldn't help but feel mad at Airi for making this new girl think that, he hated it when Airi looked at him like he was a piece of meat, it made him feel disgusting. But, seeing as Airi wasn't here right now he took his annoyance out on Houtaru **(A/N remember people they're eleven) **"Dobe! How could you be stupid enough to think that!?"

"Teme! Don't call me that! It was just a joke. Can't people from around here take jokes?" Houtaru responded.

"Dobe."

"Teme." They huffed and turned away from each other fuming. They hadn't yet noticed that Sasuke was standing a bit away from them watching the encounter.

"_Naruto….."_


	4. Chapter 4

SakuraKissy: I hope to answer some of your questions about Houtaru's reasons for becoming a ninja of Konoha while she's an Obi Shinobi (lol

**SakuraKissy: I hope to answer some of your questions about Houtaru's reasons for becoming a ninja of Konoha while she's an Obi Shinobi (lol! It rymes!) and I would've done yaoi and all that cute stuff except I'm afraid I couldn't do a good job of it! I wouldn't want to mess it up. I also put another one of my favs in there: GaaNaru. Like I said; it would mess with the plot if I made them a couple but Naruto's son falls for Gaara's daughter. I loved your reviews!**

**Estel: You get a cookie. Or sumtin awesome for your review. It was a real confidence booster! .**

**Note: in this Houtaru calls her parents Mama and Papa in stead of oka-san and tou-san. This is just something she does because…she does. It's my way of saying how close she is to her parents. Takeru respects them to however he's just more polite. **

As she was turning away from Toshiro, Houtaru felt a powerful chakra presence near her. She turned and saw an older looking Toshiro with black eyes who she recognized immediately as the man who was asking about her father earlier, the man who her father regretted leaving the most and his best friend; Uchiha Sasuke.

"Toshiro, it looks like you've made a new friend." The older Uchiha said as he walked up to the pair. Toshiro simply huffed and turned away with a slight blush on his cheeks. Sasuke mentally chuckled and turned to the little blond; he still couldn't get over how much she looked like his old best friend. "We meet again."

Houtaru smiled a foxy grin "It's not meeting someone unless it's on good terms." She bowed politely "It is a pleasure to meet you Lord Uchiha."

"Please no formalities. Have you found a place to stay yet?" He was answered by the light blush gracing the girls face as she sheepishly looked towards the ground and scratched the back of her head. He chuckled as the girl continued to remind him of Naruto "Well, since you are obviously acquainted with my son why don't you stay with us for the night? Or until you can find an apartment in a good part of town, that way I can make sure you're ok."

"Arigato, Uchiha-san. I would be honored. Demo….could you possibly let me treat you to dinner. I wouldn't feel right just going and staying at your house and not returning something." She said. She was touched by the fact that a stranger was inviting her to stay with them. Though she felt as if she knew this man all her life from the stories her father told her, however this man seemed to be older, more worn down yet kinder somehow.

Toshiro on the other hand was shocked at his father invitation. He was actually quite please with the fact that she had accepted and he could spend more time with her but he wasn't going to let anyone else know that.

"Tou-san! Why does she have to come with us?" he huffed.

"Toshiro, it's polite and she has no place to stay. I think it would be good for you to make a friend your age." Sasuke said with a smirk. _"You'll thank me some day"_ His son was usually not expressive toward any subject and the fact that he had expressed his opinion surprised Sasuke. Though Sasuke could tell these to were going to get along….maybe to well.

"Uchiha-san?" Houtaru asked quietly.

"Yes?"

"I hope you don't mind baby foxes to much." She said pointing to Kyubi who was looking very intently at his one tail.

As they walked through the streets Houtaru suddenly smelt something delicious. "Ramen!" she scream and then proceeded to run towards the smell leaving the two Uchiha's looking amused as they attempted to catch up to the girl before realizing she was fast, _really_ fast. They finally caught up to her to see her nearly drooling at the sight of the ramen shop.

"Do you mind if we eat here?" she asked excitedly when she noticed their arrival.

"Not at all Houtaru-san." Sasuke said happily. He had decided that he was going to enjoy the things about this strange girl that reminded him of Naruto, since she wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon.

As they walked in the first thing Houtaru did was look for old man Ichiraku and his daughter Ayame so she could make sure she was eating at the right shop. When she saw them she sat down and looked at all the deferent flavors of ramen….miso, pork, duck….

"Hello may I help y-" Ayame stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the young girl. Ayame got tears in her eyes and smiled at the girl. In barely a whisper she asked "What's your name?"

"Houtaru."

"That's such a pretty name." Ayame complemented as she smiled. "May I take your order?"

"Yes! May I have three large bowls of the barbeque pork ramen please?" Ayame nodded elbowing her aged father in the ribs because he to was openly staring at the young girl. Houtaru turned to the Uchiha's sitting beside her "What do you two want?"

They started to laugh but when she gave them a questioning look they figured out that her order was actually for her. They both ordered and the other four watched as Houtaru slurped down at least twelve bowls of ramen before leaving the money on the counter and promising to come back.

As they arrived at the Uchiha mansion both Sasuke and Toshiro expected Houtaru to be in aw at the site of their grand mansion. It wasn't that they were bragging about it, it was simply people's usual reaction.

Houtaru however didn't actually think it was that big. It was nice but it wasn't as nice or as grand as her house back at home. Her mother had planted flowers everywhere and it looked open and happy; it was her home.

"Your house is very nice." She said kindly and much to the Uchiha's surprise as she removed her shoes and stepped into the front room, setting Kyubi down as she did.

"Toshiro, show her around the house. She can have the room next to yours. If there is anything you need don't hesitate to ask." Sasuke said before leaving the children to their business. He needed time to think about this new girl and he needed to figure out exactly who she was.

Toshiro lead her through the house and wished her goodnight; telling her to get sleep because tomorrow was going to be a big day and she needed her rest. Houtaru had obliged, not because she needed sleep to do well on a genin level test but because she was still tired because of her journey.

The next morning Toshiro went through his normal routine as always, he knew he was going to pass the exam today; he was number one in the class. However he hadn't gotten much sleep that night, for his thoughts had been transfixed on the blonde girl that was just a few feet away from him in the next room.

He walked in; expecting to see her up but instead was greeted by the graceful sight of her hair in a spiky mess under a strange nightcap and her body sprawled out on her futon.

"Dobe." He muttered.

"Teme" she said as her eyes shot open making him jump back.

Tsunade sat in her office going over papers with her assistant Shizune and Tonton. Her mind had also been infected by questions about the new blonde girl and Naruto.

"So what exactly did she look like again?" Shizune asked for the fifth time. She and Tonton had been absent from yesterdays meeting.

"This is the last time I'm going to explain it to you. She had long, blond spiky hair, big blue eyes with white pupils and whisker marks on either of her cheeks. She looked like a female Naruto. She even acted like the brat." Tsunade sighed. She got up and walked to the window of her office looking out the window to the Uchiha section where she had been informed the girl was staying.

"_Naruto, where are you?"_ She asked. All she saw was a mess of blonde hair emerge from the Uchiha district soon followed by another figure with black hair.

"Teme!" a blond girl yelled as she stormed into a class room and pushed past the pack of girls standing next to where she knew Toshiro would be sitting, Kyubi not far behind. "You gave me the wrong directions!"

She got even more pissed when she saw a very smug looking Toshiro sitting there with a famous Uchiha smirk on his face "You're just mad because I won the race." They were both unaware that they were being watched by not only the entire class, who was transfixed with this beautiful new girl and the Uchiha, but also all of the parents and Jounins through the Hokage's crystal ball in her office.

He looked up to see Houtaru's face not three inches from his staring at him, as she was squatting in front of him on the desk with a smirk "You think you're the best here? Well guess what? You haven't seen me fight yet have you, teme?" she asked glaring at him as he glared back.

Then it happened. The one thing that caught Houtaru off guard was some random person leaning back a little too far in his seat causing him to knock her forward a little. Everyone watched in horror as the two students fell into a kiss exactly like the one their fathers had had all those years ago. On immediate impulse they pulled away from each other as the class erupted into laughter and the adults sweat dropped at the sight.

"Well…that reminds me of something I'd rather not relive." Sasuke said in shock of what he had just witnessed.

Back in the classroom Toshiro was coughing like mad while Houtaru was rolling on the floor saying "ew,ew,ew,ew,ew,ew,ew" over and over again. Neither one of them wanted to admit that, unlike their parents; they wanted to have that feeling again. The kiss felt too right to both of them and their lips wanted more but they were both to stubborn to ever admit it.

"Dobe! What the hell was that?!" Toshiro choked our.

"Shut up Teme! Someone pushed me!" Houtaru choked out as she noticed a giant wave of killer intent roll through the room. She looked up to see all the other girls in her class, led by Airi, looking at her with hatred at her stealing 'their' Toshiro's first kiss.

Instead of saying anything Houtaru harnessed some of her massive killer intent and sent in straight towards the cluster of girls; who all dropped to their knees shaking in fear as they felt just a bit of what Houtaru was capable of, though they didn't know it was from her.

Houtaru ignored them and sat next to Toshiro "I won't say anything if you don't" she mumbled.

"I won't if you promise never to do that again without my consent." Toshiro said, a blush dusting his pale cheeks at that last part. He actually wanted her to do it again…just not in front of anyone else.

"Who said I would so it again with your consent?" Houtaru asked with a snort, even though she knew she would in a heartbeat.

"You know Toshiro; my mom says that that girl's dangerous! She says that I shouldn't trust her. Will you protect me from her?" Airi said loudly so everyone in the class could here it.

"I really don't care what your mother thinks. Leave me alone." Toshiro said trying to defend his friend without showing he actually cared. Airi was about to respond but the teacher walked in and told everyone to take their seats. Airi moved to sit next to Toshiro but Houtaru sat down first and Kyubi jumped up onto the only remaining seat at the desk. Airi stomped away to sit with some other girls; silently fuming.

Houtaru ignored her as she observed the teacher. He was old with brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and a kind look in his eyes. Houtaru knew he was from her father's stories but she couldn't put a finger on it. Right before he started talking she figured it out as she saw a giant gash across his nose.

"Hello class, I hope you're all excited and well rested for today's genin exam and I expect all of you to pass. Before we get started we have a new student joining us last minute. Why don't you stand up and introduce your self?" Iruka said, his eyes going wide, like so many others had, as he saw the blond girl.

In the hokage's office, Tsunade leaned forward a bit in her seat to hear this part. She had asked the girl her name but had been to preoccupied to notice she hadn't given a surname. Thought Tsunade didn't think it was possible, she somehow hoped that this girl was…….

Her thoughts were interrupted as she watched the girl stand up. "My name is Houtaru. I turned eleven a few days ago and my parents and other's taught me basic ninja stuff. I came to Konoha recently and decided to pursue being a ninja. My favorite food is ramen and this is my pet fox Kyu-chan. He acts sorta like a nin-dog and can fight some."

She sat back down and looked at Toshiro who nodded signifying that she had said the right words. "What's your surname?" Iruka inquired. Tsunade leaned forward in her seat and the rest of the ninja there leaned forward a bit to.

Houtaru stiffened a bit, as did Kyubi, but she was able to easily think up a lie "I don't know. My parents never told me so I guess I'll never know."

"Why? Can't you just go back to where you came from and ask them?" Airi sneered.

"No, they died along with ever one else I knew." Houtaru said in a final tone. She hated that she was lying to everyone, especially her fathers own friends. She could since them watching her and she knew they were looking to her to shed some light on the infamous Uzumaki Naruto's whereabouts. But it wasn't like she could say "Hello, my name is Uzumaki Houtaru. My father's the Onikage, which is the leader of the one nation that no one knows about and is scared out of their minds of, and I'm the Jinchuriki of all nine Bijuu which makes me the Lord of Demons and the most powerful being in the world. To top it off I don't have full control over my power yet and my mother was the heir to the most prestigious clan in Konoha and I have a revised, more powerful version of her blood-limit. Also my father is the one you're all looking for and he's been alive and well all these years and started his own country." Yes that would certainly be a good idea.

"Ok class, why don't we get started. As you all know the test will comprise of three parts: written, fighting and basic jutsus. The first part will begin when everyone has their papers." Iruka said while starting to pass out papers. Houtaru wasn't particularly nervous; she knew she would easily pass the last two parts but she had been 'gifted' with her father's brain skills when it came to academics. During the middle of a raging battle she could come up with a plan in an instant but on paper she couldn't do shit. Besides she could always cheat if she absolutely had to.

As she received her test she looked over it for a second and was amazed at what she saw; she knew all the answers to these questions. He father had made her study ninja code and law of every other county until she had memorized every detail of every description. Some of it disgusted her while she liked some of the rules. When she had asked her father about Oni's ninja law he had smiled at her and said "Protect your country and all those precious to you." She had been confused by this when she asked him then but now she saw that he meant do what ever it takes to protect the ones you love. This can mean dieing, fighting, giving up or even listening to your enemies.

She filled out the answers quickly and gave it back to Iruka, who simply stared at her questioningly. She wondered why until she looked around the room and noticed she was the only one done.

Once everyone was done, Iruka told them to move outside for the next portion of the test. Houtaru and Toshiro walked out together, keeping a good foot in between them, while Toshiro asked Houtaru about how she was able to get done with the test so quickly. She had shrugged and simply told him her father had made her study it back home. Toshiro didn't question as he thought "home" meant where her family was at the time.

Once they were outside Iruka was seated at a table with two other teachers all ready to judge the students. Iruka explained that they were randomly paired up and that they were going to fight his/her partner until the teachers decided the fight was over or one of them gave up.

Everyone lined up and the instructors called up two random people at a time. Everyone did fairly well considering you could either win or lose, but most fights got stopped before one of the contenders got knocked unconscious.

When Airi got up there her opponent was another girl who was a pretty good fighter but very insecure, Houtaru had been told. The fight when on for a while and the other girl had been winning and Airi had seen that so she did the thing she did best to win; she insulted the other girl. The insults where vicious and hurtful and the other girl actually started to cry and when she did Airi punched her square in the jaw with enough force to break it. Houtaru watched in horror as the other girl fell to the ground screaming in pain; her tears of pain mixing with the ones she had been crying before from Airi's insults.

The teachers announced Airi the winner but the lavender haired girl simply replied with a "But I'm not done yet." walking up to kick the girl who was lying on the ground in pain.

Right as her leg was about come down on the girl she was knocked back about ten feet by a fist. Houtaru stood in front of the other girl fist still extended toward Airi, whose nose had been broken. She looked up at Houtaru who was glaring at her. She cringed back a little from the piercing blue and white eyes before smirking and saying "You're going to be disqualified! You can't interfere with other's fights and you can't attack someone unless you're fighting them."

The blonds glare didn't falter but a smirk replaced the scowl on her lips "The fight was over. If you had kicked her again you would have been disqualified; I did you a favor. Besides you had no right to continue the fight when your opponent was unable to continue."

Airi looked away. The girl was right. "But you still broke my nose!"

"It can be easily fixed." Houtaru said simply before turning to the girl on the ground. Her face softened as the girl looked at her "You want me to fix your jaw?"

The other girl nodded weakly and Houtaru placed her hand gently on the other girls jaw "Hold still." A gentle purple light surrounded Houtaru's hand and the other girls face relaxed as she felt the pain leave.

"**You're a good person my little kitten. Using my power to heal a mortal being, unbelievable."** Ni-bii said.

"_She needs it. She can still take the third portion of the test and she can't do that with a broken jaw."_ Houtaru said dismissing the fact.

"**She has a point, our Little Firefly. You're going to make a good Onikage someday. And an even greater Demon Lord." **Go-bii added with sincerity.

Houtaru smiled at the fact that the Great Demons believed in her. She remembered the day she had learned of what she was going to be when she grew up. Her fait wasn't reversible and she didn't mind, she just didn't have full confidence in herself.

:Flash Back:

"Where's my Little Firefly?" Naruto said one day as came home from his office for the night. A five year old Houtaru looked up and smiled a toothy grin at her father, glad that she could spend time with him since Mama was already putting Takeru to bed for the night. 

"Papa!" She exclaimed as she ran up into her father arms. "Kyu-chan told me that you needed to tell me now." 

Naruto looked at her confused for a second "Kyu-chan?" 

Houtaru nodded. "He says that you needed to tell me something; something about Kyu-chan and the rest of them. He says that he's in here" She said motioning towards her stomach "and that he used to be in here" she said poking her father's stomach. 

Naruto simply stared in disbelief "Kyu-chan can talk to you?" He had thought that that wouldn't have been possible.

Houtaru nodded, her spiky pig-tails bobbing up and down "They all can. Ever since I could 'member. They said I had to keep it a secret until I my……" she trailed of tapping her chin while thinking of the right words to say her face lit up as the remembered "CATRA! They said sumtin bout my catra adapting to them totally so they could train me." 

Naruto laughed "You mean _charkra_?" Houtaru nodded "Did they say anything else" Houtaru thought again before nodding. 

"They said that I'm not gonna have any natural _chakra_. Mine isn't that light blue color. It black." Houtaru said excitedly. She seemed to space out for a second before turning back to her father again. "Kyu-chan says they can explain it betterer if you can hear them." 

With that Naruto found himself in, what appeared to be, a stone tunnel with little orbs of light floating everywhere. Naruto looked down to see a very different looking Houtaru. Her hair was still its golden blond color but it seemed to have a few streaks of midnight black in it. He noticed her canine teeth and nails were sharper and the whisker marks on her face looked deeper and more pronounced. Her eyes were different than he was used to seeing. Instead of the blue irises and black pupil they were black with slit-like ocean blue pupils. Her ears were now pointed, like a wolf's, with black fur on them and she had ten midnight black tails with golden tips. 

Naruto stared at his daughter in disbelief and she smiled back "Kyu-chan will explain when we get there Papa." She said and started to skip down the hallway, clearly aware of where she was going. Naruto fallowed his daughter in amazement of her new look. He didn't think she looked scary or strange. He thought she looked adorable. 

When they got to the end of the hall he saw that it opened into a giant room bigger than the Hokage Monument had been at home…WAY bigger. The room was beautifully exquisite with orbs of light floating everywhere and what looked like nine giant seats arranged in a circle. Each area around the seat was decorated a different color and behind each area was a giant door and above each door was the kanji for the numbers one through nine. 

"Everyone! I brought Papa!" Houtaru yelled excitedly. Naruto was on alert as he saw a giant tail shoot out from the area around the opposite wall. He thought it was coming for him but in surprise in wrapped around his daughter and she squealed in delight as the was hosted up in the air and came face to face with the giant fox known as Kyubi. 

"Kyu-chan!" She said happily.

"**How's our little firefly?"** Kyubi asked with a smile. It wasn't a demonic smile but an actual smile. 

"Great! I brought Papa!" Houtaru said again. 

Kyubi looked around to see Naruto standing there looking shocked. **"I see you did."** He told the little girl as he sat down on the red cushion by his door and placing Houtaru on the top of his head tenderly. **"Long time no see, Kit. I see that you didn't expect to see me again." **

"No, not really." Naruto said with a smile. All shock gone and now he was just curious.

"**Well you really should have expected it Naruto-san. The seal you put on her only sealed us in here together and kept us from taking over her body, it didn't keep us from communicating with her or letting her use out chakra."** Naruto looked over to see the giant four-tail dog that was Yon-bii. **"However it's not a bad thing at all. We've all taken quite a liking to the little pup here."** He explained and Naruto noticed that all the Biiju were now sitting in all the places around the room. 

"I know you called me in here to explain more than that." Naruto said, curiosity getting the best of him. 

"**Still the same I see."** Kyubi sighed **"We actually asked Houtaru to bring you here because we wanted to discuss her future with you." **

A purple tail shot across the room and wrapped around Houtaru and brought her to Ni-bii. The two tailed cat cuddled the young girl close and sat her down on her head. **"Stop hogging her Kyubi. Now Naruto-san,"** she said turning to the Onikage ignoring Kyubi's growl of protest. **"Houtaru is going to be an exceptionally powerful being when she grows older. With all of us in here she doesn't have normal chakra as her body has had to adapt to us. Her chakra is more powerful than any of our and she has more of it than any of us; unlike yours in the fact that you had normal chakra at all. She does not. She will grow up having full access to all of out chakra reserves and powers. She not a demon or a half demon, she is going to be even more powerful than one of us. She is going to be all of us combined plus her own power. Basically she is going to be the Lord of Demons, bested only by Kami-sama herself."  
**

"**And I personally don't even think Kami would stand a chance against this girl's stubbornness and energy."** Shikaku added causing Houtaru to stick her tongue out at him. 

Naruto gaped. He was in shock at the fact that his daughter, or any one being for that matter, could be that powerful. **"I know it's a lot to take in Naruto-san but we all believe in her. She is an exceptionally kind-hearted little girl." **Yon-bii assured him.

"What can I do?" Naruto asked. If his daughter was going to be that powerful she was going to need training and lots of it.

"**Raise her to your standards. Teach her your morals and turn her into the leader she was born to be. She is truly your daughter kit. Never doubt that."** Kyubi explained with a smile in his eyes. 

"Thank you." Naruto said with sincerity before his eyes turned mischievous. Naruto had grown up and matured exceptionally but some part of him was always a little boy when the situation was allowed "Yes, thank you very much…._Kyu-chan_." 

Kyubi growled as the other Biiju roared with laughter. **"We're trying to be serious everyone. Now Naruto is there anymore questions we could answer?" **

Naruto looked over at his daughter and her new appearance "Will she stay like that?" 

"**Only in her mind can she appear as her true form. When she gets older she can probably change back and forth at her will. However you should know that this isn't even her most powerful form. "** Nii-bi explained. 

"**There's one more thing I think we need to explain."** Go-bii started awkwardly. **"Well, with her powers and all…she's immortal. She will stop aging when she turns about 21. She probably will have the power to make anyone else immortal as well." **

"**Not only that, with our combined healing properties she will be almost invincible as well; especially with my fast healing rated. Cats may not have nine but I heal particularly fast. No injury she has will be on her body for more than eight or nine hours."** Ni-bii explained. 

All of a sudden Shikaku burst into laughter. Everyone in the room looked at him questioningly. He noticed everyone's stares and shrugged his shoulders **"Just think about if she becomes Onikage; the leader of The Village Protected by Demons. It would be so damn literal." **

"But I am going to be Onikage when I grow up! Just like Papa! And I'm gonna be the bestest Onikage ever!" Houtaru exclaimed. 

Naruto smiled as his daughter reminded him of well…him. He knew she would be a great leader; her and her brother both had excellent senses of judgment and skill as well as kind hearts. 

"Papa, we need to leave now. Mama promisded she would tell me another story." Houtaru said. 

Ni-bii nodded and placed a sleepy Houtaru in Naruto's arms. **"Take care of my little kitten."** She warned. 

:End Flashback: 

Houtaru looked to see that the other girls jaw was back to normal and stood up before helping the other girl off her feet.

"Arigato."

"Don't mention it. Don't listen to anything Airi said; she just knew she was losing." The other girl's faces lit up some before she joined the rest of the group. Houtaru noticed everyone was staring at her in aw.

"Houtaru-san, where did you learn how to do that? It was an extremely high-leveled medical jutsu!" Iruka questioned. _"Purple chakra? And she doesn't even look tired. Any jutsu half of that capacity should have knocked her out." _

"It's a well known healing technique from my caravan." Houtaru said simply, hoping no one would ask further. She also saw that Airi was being treated by a medic-nin. She had a cast on her nose and was complaining about how it messed up her perfect face.

Toshiro walked over to Houtaru "That was kind of you." He commented, not really knowing what else to say.

Houtaru simply shrugged. "She deserved it. I wasn't going to let her fail the test because her jaw was broken. She would have had to go to the hospital and missed the next part of the exam."

Toshiro didn't like how she dismissed her abilities. He could never know anything about her if she didn't tell him the truth. He didn't care what she told everyone else he just wanted her to tell _him_ the truth. He wanted to know everything about her.

"Well Houtaru-san, since you're so ready to fight, why don't you go next." one of the teachers asked, intrigued by this new girl. "You're opponent will be Uchiha-san."

Toshiro and Houtaru both looked at each other and smiled. To everyone else they would seem as if they were looking forward to the fight. However they both were a bit nervous. Houtaru didn't want to hurt him and Toshiro knew that Houtaru was probably stronger than him. In the end they both decided this was a chance to learn more about one another.

They both walked to the center of the sparing ring. The instructor spoke from his spot at the table "Remember this is ti-jutsu only. No techniques but shurikens and kunai are ok. You may begin."

"Oy! Teme!" Houtaru provoked. She wanted him to be mad enough to not hold back from the fight. Toshiro looked up at the blond "Don't hold back."

Toshiro smirked "I won't if you won't." He didn't actually mean it. She could tell and she knew if she did go all out he would die.

"Do you really want me to?" Houtaru asked but she was no longer in front of the young Uchiha; she was _behind_ him.

**OK soooo this was kinda a cliffie ending but I needed to stop this chapter cuz it was getting to be so long. The next chapter should be up later tonight because I'm more than half way done with it. Tell me if you have any suggestions or comments because I take them all into consideration! I love reviews! **


	5. Chapter 5

"Do you really want me to

**Let me say this now: I feel bad! I told you people I would get this out sometime before now and I didn't….and I'm not good at writing fight scenes unless I can use jutsu and still those aren't very good (I plan to work on this before I put the major fight scenes in). Sorry about the lateness and shiz but school is during the week and that affects my ability to type.**

**People who reviewed I've got a general message for you! YOU ARE ALL AWSOME! I'm really inspired by reviews and such and I love you people (Not in a weird way)!**

**Onto the story!**

"_Do you really want me to?" Houtaru asked but she was no longer in front of the young Uchiha; she was _behind_ him. _

Toshiro stiffened as he felt her presence behind him. His breath caught in his throat as he realized just _how_ fast she really was "What? Nothing to say?" she chuckled lightly before he lost all feeling of her presence. He looked around the field but he couldn't catch a glimpse of her. He was suddenly knocked back and to the ground by a powerful blow to his stomach. He looked up to see Houtaru standing over him "That's it?" she asked innocently.

Every one watching was amazed. She moved with such speed that they couldn't see her. Plus no one had ever been able to make Toshiro falter in his fighting but she had managed to pin him to the ground in less than three seconds.

Toshiro saw that he couldn't hold back not even a bit. But she couldn't use any Nin or gin-jutsu right? Maybe that would give him a better chance….he didn't think so.

Toshiro grabbed Houtaru's leg that had him pinned to the ground and flipped her off of him. He hopped up off the ground and tried to right hook her but she simply leaned back and it went over her face **(MATRIX!) **She used her position to flip back onto her hands and bring her legs up to kick him in the chest; sending him flying over her head.

Toshiro looked at his opponent and saw she had a look on her face; like she was studying him but she wasn't even breathing harder yet. He reached into his shuriken pouch and pulled out some wire and two kunai. He threaded the wire through the kunai and ran around Houtaru, who was making no attempted to dodge, and threw the kunai so that they spun around Houtaru and bound her to a tree not to far from where they were. **(Think when Sasuke pins Naruto to the rock at the Valley of the End)**

Toshiro smirked at his 'victory' until he heard Houtaru's musical laughter. "That's it?" she asked as she drew two strange shaped kunai from under her sleeves and easily cut through the wire. The kunai looked more like senbons than anything, except they had a handle on the bottom and a blade at each angle.

Toshiro noticed that the tips were angled down wards so it looked like a star on the top. They could probably drill through anything if thrown correctly. He thought to himself.

Houtaru attached the loop on the end of the kunai around her thumbs and held them like kantanas; a trick she had learned from jo-bii. She spun in a circle and lunged at Toshiro who looked as if to escape the onslaught from the blond but ended up betting pinned to the same tree that she was pinned to a second ago by her kunai. He found that the sleeves of his shirt was basically imbedded in the tree and Houtaru threw eight more kunai into his clothing; making sure there was no way for him to escape.

Houtaru walked forward slowly. She wanted to see if Toshiro could escape from her attack. When she was right in front of him she drew another kunai from her pouch and held it up to his neck.

"Have I won?" Houtaru asked. She wasn't bragging; she wanted to know if he really had lost. Her favorite way to win a fight was to make the other person think that they had won. They usually got close enough to where any of her attacks could work on them.

Toshiro looked at him with an ashamed look in his eye "Can I tell you a secret?" Houtaru asked. Toshiro looked up at her; any secret she would tell him he wanted to know. He nodded and she leaned forward to whisper in his ear "You are probably the best genin I've ever fought." She smiled at him as he took in her words.

"The winner: Houtaru." One of the teachers said. There was a great amount of shock evident in his voice. He couldn't believe that the new girl had beaten the young Uchiha.

**(A/N if you didn't get the fight let me summarize it for you: He just got his ass kicked.)**

Toshiro was still staring in disbelief at the younger blond. She had said the best _genin_. How many other people of lower or _higher_ ranks had this girl fought?

Houtaru pulled her kunai out of the tree and freed Toshiro. Houtaru stuck out her hand and Toshiro looked at Houtaru's tan hand and smiled at her before shaking her hand.

"Friends?" Toshiro asked.

"Occasionally." Houtaru said causing the two kids to laugh and join the rest of the group who was still gaping at the fact that 1) Toshiro had been beaten and 2) Toshiro had just called the person who beat him his friend.

The rest of the second test went off without event. They took a fifteen minute break before the last potion of the test. Houtaru and Toshiro, much to the disappointment of Toshiro's fan girls, the two went to the top of the school building for the break. Houtaru had sent Kyubi home because the fox needed some sleep; he wasn't used to having to move around in the physical world.

When they got to the top they sat down just to enjoy the breezy day. Houtaru offered a package to Toshiro "What is it?"

Houtaru rolled her eyes "It's something my mom taught me how to make. My brother can cook better than me but I can make a few things. Like these; they look like rice balls but instead of meat inside they have a special paste that she taught me to make a long time ago from different flowers with healing properties. I found them on my way here so I figured I'd bring them. They will replenish chakra and have some healing properties."

"You have a brother?" Toshiro asked. He was still eager to learn all that he could about this girl.

"Yes I do. His name is Takeru." Houtaru told him as she chewed. She didn't feel like lying to him now. She couldn't tell him everything but she wouldn't lie.

"Is?" Toshiro asked.

"No matter what he's always my brother. That's something my father taught me. No matter what happens once your family always your family." Houtaru said. Her father's words had been meant for Sasuke and she took pride that she could share them with Toshiro.

Toshiro nodded and continued eating. Houtaru looked at her new friends "Toshiro-kun," she started. She saw her friend blush a bit at his new title but looked at her anyways "what's your story?"

Toshiro looked at the girl and shrugged "Nothing interesting." He took another bite "You're a good cook."

"And you're avoiding my question." Houtaru retorted.

The raven sighed in defeat "My father told me my mother was from northern Rice Country. He was there looking for his old friend when he met her. He said he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He told me I have her eyes." Houtaru looked at her friend's midnight blue eyes. "He said that she wanted to me to be born in her country and then they would go back to Konoha after I was born. I was born but there was a complication and she died. He's never told me that it was my fault and he always reminded me how much she loves me. He came back with me and gave up some searches that were important to him to raise me. I know that my mother was an only child and her parents died early on in her life and that my father's only relation left was his brother, you've heard of the Uchiha massacre right?"

Houtaru nearly choked but managed to nod. Everyone here was so wrong about what happened that night. Ok so they weren't exactly wrong but they just didn't know all the facts about why Itachi-san did it.

"So that leaves me with no other relations except for my father. We support each other but we don't really tell each other every thing; just stuff I ask he answers and vise versa. Then I have the rest of my friends. Michi, Shika, Kenta and even Yoshio are good friends but they aren't really around anymore. Until you came along I guess I didn't have any friends I could really talk to. What even sucks more is that everyone in this village expects me to be perfect. The great heir to their precious Uchiha clan. They were so mad at my father when he told them that he refused to marry again. Airi's mom is one of the worst. She's one of the few villagers who thinks that we should have certain laws to 'make this village a better place' when all it does is benefit them. One thing I can't understand about you is the reason why you came here." Toshiro said as he ended his rant. It was refreshing to talk to someone who wouldn't just say it was the pressure of greatness that was taking over his mind.

"I came here because I wanted answers." Houtaru said suddenly.

Toshiro was taken aback by the blond's statement. There were so many things she said that just opened up for more questions.

Houtaru reluctantly stood up "Come on, it's time to go." She didn't want to go back but she knew it had to happen eventually. She looked at Toshiro's annoyed expression and almost laughed "Don't worry. I'll tell you my story another day. But for now why don't you worry about hiding from your fan club?"

"Actually it seems you serve some purpose. They won't come up to me because they're scared of you." Toshiro exclaimed with a smirk before his expression turned serious "Houtaru-chan," his new friend looked at him curiously "I'm here if ever you want to tell me anything." Toshiro smiled as he saw his friends eyes light up and a sweet smile grace her face.

"Arigato Toshiro-kun." She said and they headed downstairs.

"Toshiro-kun!" a high nasal voice yelled from down the hall. Toshiro didn't like the fact that any one called him that besides Houtaru and it put a damper on his mood. Houtaru sensed this and glared in the direction of the voice. "Toshiro-kun where were you?" Airi said as she appeared down the hall.

"He was with me." Houtaru said simply. She saw Toshiro smirk from the corner of her eye. They both knew what they were doing but Airi didn't and would probably assume something else.

"Ok class, take your seats. The final portion of the exam will begin right after I explain the rules." Everyone took their seats before Iruka explained the rest of the rules. "The third test is going to be over three basic jutsu: kawami, henge and Bunshin. You will be graded on how fast you can perform this jutsu and how well you can execute them. Any question? Oh. Yes Houtaru?"

"Well…what if we can only perform a different version of one of these jutsu?" She asked shyly. For the life of her she couldn't do Bunshin no jutsu to save her life. It took way to little chakra.

"We'll just see when you take your test. Now first up is…" As the first student walked out of the room to take his test Toshiro turned to Houtaru with a questioning look.

"I can only perform Kage Bunshin. Not a regular Bunshin, it's so hard!" Houtaru sighed and dropped her head down onto her arms.

Toshiro stared in amazement at his friend. Part of him was jealous at her abilities but his father had taught him that jealousy never leads to anything good. So instead he asked "Why do you think it's harder for you?"

Houtaru's breath caught. Crap! She thought. However she promised herself that she wouldn't lie anymore "It's because I have a bigger chakra reserve than most other people my age." That was the truth but an understatement. No one had chakra reserves as big as her. She couldn't probably fight with high chakra powered jutsu for a week and still have chakra to spare.

Toshiro couldn't help but smile at her honesty. He had a feeling it wasn't the whole truth but he also had a feeling that it wasn't a lie either. So he nodded and they chatted some more until Iruka called Toshiro out of the room to take his test.

Once Toshiro was gone Houtaru rested her head on her desk in attempts to relax for a minute and think about the city. From what she could tell everyone, spare a few people, who really regretted the council's decision to banish her father. All of his friends had been looking for him, and the entire city seemed devoid of any energy most of the time.

"_**It was because of your father, kitten. He brought some light to this village and with out him I suppose it just died."**_ Ni-bii said with a sigh. Kyubi had told her the impact the boy had made on the village and even she could tell it was different from the village Naruto had told Houtaru about.

"_I think it's sad. Why do you think some people, like Airi's mother, still can't give up their hate for Papa? I mean seriously! Kyubi's awesome and I don't understand what their problem is!"_ Houtaru exclaimed loudly.

Ni-bii laughed _**"Kitten, only you would be able to see past the fact that we're all demons and see us as if we were your equals. Even your father took some time to adapt to Kyubi but you, you accepted us."**_

"_True. But who am I to judge? My true form has ten tails and wolf ears. I don't exactly think I have any room to judge you."_ Houtaru laughed with him.

"_**That's beside the point. Now stop talking to me. It looks like you have company." **_

Houtaru looked up to see Airi, who had on her nose cast, and three other girls behind her glaring at her. "May I help you?" she asked, trying to sound polite.

Airi's glare hardened and she tried to sound intimidating while she said "Stay away from my Toshiro-kun! He's mine! If you ever hang out with him alone again I'll-"

"You'll what? Beat me up? We've all seen who would win in a fight between you and me. And what is he? Your property? I'm sorry to say that you're mistaken big time if you think that I would stop hanging out with my friend just because you say so and if you think that he would ever like you!" Houtaru had never been so angry at one person for saying something about some one else. It was like something inside her snapped when she heard the lavender haired girl talk about Toshiro in a possessive way.

"_**Awww! It looks like our little firefly has a mate!" **_

"_**Shut up Shikaku! Don't make me come over there! But he does have a point kitten. It does seem you've taken a liking to this new male."**_ Ni-bii explained.

"_No I don't! I just don't think anyone should be talking about him like that."_ Houtaru thought back.

"_**Sure you do. Just like Ni-bii doesn't like K-"**_ but the giant raccoon was silenced by a whack.

Houtaru continued to glare at Airi who looked like she was about to respond when the teacher came back in with Toshiro and called Houtaru into the next room. She stood up and as she was passing Airi whispered "You have no idea how many times that teacher has saved your sorry ass today."

As she passed Toshiro he smiled reassuringly at her. When she got to the next room she took her place in front of the desk where the three teachers sat. They told her to perform the techniques in any order she pleased.

She preformed a few hand signs and then she poofed away and a pencil dropped on the floor where she had been. For a second the teachers there thought she had done a transformation, a very complex one, but after a minute of staring at the pencil they realized that there was no chakra signature coming from it. Instead there was one coming from the pencil on the desk.

After a second of staring at the pencil, Houtaru puffed back into existence. "That was a double jutsu. I transformed into a pencil and used replacement to replace myself with the pencil on the desk."

"Very good Houtaru, the only thing left is the Bunshin." Iruka said. He wasn't going to mention that she had done something that he wouldn't expect low chunin to know how to do. Transforming into a pencil took a lot of concentration and a fair bit of chakra.

"Um…about that…I can't exactly perform Bunshin" Houtaru explained sheepishly.

"Well than I'm afraid you're going to fail. Can you just attempt it for us?" The other teacher said, slightly smug. This girl had shown abilities far from normal genin and he was happy to see that she couldn't even do a simple bunshin

Houtaru sensed this and became slightly angry. "I can't perform bunshin but I was wondering if you could let me pass if I showed you kage bunshin of taiju kage bunshin."

The teacher's eyes widened. He was in shock however Iruka managed to stutter out "Go ahead." With that twenty Houtaru's appeared after the original did a few quick hand signs.

"Houtaru, you pass…with flying colors. You will receive your hitate during the graduation ceremony later." Iruka said, not being able to get much more out. This girl, who already reminded him of Naruto, just preformed Naruto's signature move and couldn't perform the one thing that gave him so much trouble.

The Houtaru's smiled a foxy grin and then all but the original poofed away. **(A/N I was originally planning for her to be more impressive with the test but then I remembered that would seriously ruin her chances of staying there too long without Daddy interfering.)**

Houtaru walked back into the class room and found a very annoyed Toshiro trying to ignore the flock of girls around him. His eyebrow was twitching in annoyance, Houtaru found it quite funny. After a minute she wanted to talk to her friend so she shoved passed the girls, ignoring their complaints as some of them fell. She shoved the three girls that were piled onto her seat out of it and sat down. The other girls glared at her until she returned the glare and they all shrunk away and sat back down.

"So, how'd it go?" Toshiro asked, relieved that his friend was back.

"That hurt, that really sniffle hurt" Houtaru said faking a pout that made her face look like that of a sad puppy. Toshiro's eyes went wide as he wanted to know what he did wrong. He begged the blond with his eyes to tell him and she sniffed again and looked down so he couldn't see the humor in her eyes "It hurt me that you even considered the fact that I would lose. What kind of friend does that? Do you not know me at all?" Houtaru sniffled before looking at Toshiro and laughing out loud when she saw the confused expression on his face.

After a minute Toshiro finally got the joke and glared at the girl only causing both of them to start into hysterics as their classmates watched in curiosity at the raven's laugh for they had never heard it before.

Though he was laughing Toshiro couldn't help but think to him self _"No I don't know you. I want to though." _

The ceremony was short and sweet as the graduates were given their hitates and told to meet at the same building the following morning to be assigned their teams. Really the ceremony was for the parents to watch and see who came out on top. None were surprised to see that the Uchiha was the top in the class. However what confused them all was the fact that the one who had scored the highest on the exam was the new girl in town. She had actually gotten an above perfect score. They were even more surprised when they heard she had beaten the Uchiha in a spar.

Sasuke was there along with all of Toshiro's friends and their parents. Toshiro walked up to them and Sasuke gave his son a hug and smiled at him. Michi, Shika, Kenta and Yoshio went up to Toshiro to give him congratulations and Sasuke went over to talk to their parents.

"Where's Houtaru? I saw he receive a hitate to and I heard she kicked your butt in a spar." Michi said with a smirk. She was actually surprised. She couldn't even beat the young Uchiha and this younger new girl could with ease.

"I don't know, I thought she was – there she is!" He said pointing to Houtaru who was sitting on a wooden swing under a tree staring at her new Konoha hitate. Toshiro was surprised, not to mention all of the adults in the group, that his friend wasn't with them celebrating and showing off her new hitate.

Houtaru, however, was fighting an internal battle. Could she wear this? The peace of cloth with a metal plate on top seemed so innocent but she felt a pang of sadness as she traced over the leaf symbol. She noticed that bother her home symbol and this one had a swirl but this one was smooth and even while the swirl on her other hitate was a spiky spiral of what looked like flames.

She couldn't help but feel as if she was betraying all the people important to her if she put it on; her father, her country, her family and now her new friends by lying to them about her loyalty to their village.

"Why don't you put it on?" a calm voice asked from in front of her. Startled she looked up at Toshiro who had a look of boredom on his face but she saw past it. She saw curiosity. "And I want the truth this time." He said calmly but surly.

"Will you settle for the half truth?" She asked calmly. They had met an unspoken agreement with one another: Whatever they say is for the other's ears only. If Houtaru told Toshiro anything he couldn't say a word to anyone else and vise-versa. Though Houtaru didn't think anything Toshiro told her would be quite as interesting as her secrets.

"I will take what I can get."

"It feels wrong. Almost like I'm lying to everyone about my loyalty and the fact that I consider Konoha my home." Houtaru said sadly.

"Home is where the heart lies. Even if you don't want to make Konoha your home you can make friends and have loyalty and love towards them instead." Toshiro said. He was blushing slightly as he thought the blond would laugh at him for his words.

"Who told you that?" she responded calmly with a warm look in her beautiful blue eyes.

Toshiro's blush deepened a bit. Did he just refer to something as 'beautiful?' "I learned them from my father and he learned them from his best friend."

Houtaru smiled and looked at her hitate again and took off her goggles. She slowly wrapped it around her forehead and knotted it in the back; successfully pulling her spiky bangs out of her eyes and managing to make her look more like her father.

"Arigato Toshiro-kun." It had been another silent agreement between the two. That the ending suffix to the others names would only be added when they were alone. Houtaru stood up and pecked her friend on the cheek, something that her mother taught her to do when she was grateful and as a way of saying thank you.

Toshiro's face turned a beet red. This, however, went unnoticed by the blond. Unfortunately for Toshiro she had inherited her father's since of knowing (or rather not knowing) when someone else had a little crush on her (though Toshiro would never admit this nor did he realize it at the time.)

They walked over to the rest of the group and chatted with their friends, not noticing that their parents had all gone silent. They knew the girl looked like Naruto but with the hitate on her forehead they couldn't help but compare the two blonds.

Houtaru looked almost exactly like their old friend, save the white pupils and longer hair and her feminine features, but something was different. The curve of her face seemed more delicate and her eyes seemed more sweet and feminine. The way that she stood and moved, to a trained eye, pointed to obvious flexibility. Something about the way she held herself was different from the way Naruto had. Yes, she held herself with confidence but it also seemed as if she was a bit humble in a way; like she didn't want to be seen by anyone and just be left alone; though this was defiantly almost entirely covered up by her since of self-wealth.

"H-hinata-chan" came a whisper and all eyes looked to Neji, who's normally stoic face held a look of shock "Yes, she looks like Naruto-san but….I can see Hinata-chan."

"You don't think that….?" Ino trailed off wondering what exactly had happen to the pair who disappeared all those years ago.

"Yes." Everyone looked at Sasuke who a final look to his now hopeful eyes. They said no more as they watched their children mingle and tease amongst themselves. They found themselves thinking the one thing that had been on almost everyone's minds since the previous morning:

"_Who __**is**__ this girl?"_

**Again sorry for the wait! I shall try to get two or three more chapters done this weekend!**

I love reviews and all that shiz! 

**HAPPY RANDOM THURSDAY! (Which will be Friday in a few minutes but you get the point)  
**


	6. Chapter 6

Houtaru rolled over once on her futon in the Uchiha's quest room which, she supposed was now her room

**NEW CHAPTER! **

**Now someone got mad at me for not putting any disclaimers. Now personally I think I didn't need to. If I did own Naruto I wouldn't be writing this! Also I own almost everything in this story besides the original anime and characters. I own clears thought Houtaru, Takeru, Toshiro, Kenta, Michi, Yoshio, Airi, Nozomi, Shika, Onigakure, the plot line, the characters personalities that I altered for this purpose. Any bijuu references not mentioned in manga and any justu you don't recognize. (You can tell that I wasn't annoyed by this comment at all) This is the ONLY disclaimer I will make because I see no reason to make any more. **

Houtaru rolled over once on her futon in the Uchiha's quest room which, she supposed was now her room. She was exhausted, not physically but mentally. She had spent the entire evening with her new friends and her father's old friends at a barbeque place not far from the academy and then they had taken her on a site seeing tour of the village.

She had actually enjoyed herself and had even bested Kenta in an eating contest. However she couldn't help but notice the judgmental looks of the older ones there. It wasn't mean, it just looked as if they were searching her for any flaws and it made her feel a bit self conscious.

After an early dinner they had shown her around the village. Showing her the good shops, the market place and told her to stay out of the northeast part of town. When she had asked why they told her that the villagers that lived there were the ones who disagreed with them on a certain subject.

She knew what they were talking about and knew by the look Airi's mom had given her she wouldn't be welcome there.

She had also asked where the good and inexpensive apartments were. However both of the Uchiha's told her that she would stay with them. It was telling her, not requesting that she stay. They claimed they had plenty of room and after a few minutes of argument they agreed that Houtaru would stay in the house for free (As Sasuke insisted) as long as she cooked or bought their dinner when they went out.

When they had gotten home it was late but Toshiro and Houtaru had stayed up for a bit talking about what they thought it would be like to begin their ninja careers. Who they wanted to be on their teams and who they didn't ect ect. They went to bed a couple hours later.

Houtaru looked at Kyuubi, who was still sleeping, and thought of home. She thought of her mothers cooking and that she would have to learn to make for the Uchiha men. She was restless and then a light bulb went off in her head and she got up and jumped out the window, but not before grabbing her Oni hitate first.

Sasuke was having the same issues. He was completely restless. He had spent the evening with his friends and the young girl and actually let himself have some fun. But everyone, save the kids, kept studying the girl. But seriously what could they say? _"I know you're lying to us and that you're two missing nin's child. Tell us the truth or else…"_ or else what? Sasuke thought to himself. According to the girl her parents had been killed and he knew neither Naruto nor Hinata would allow themselves to be killed by simple bandits.

"_Naruto, damn you dobe! Why did you have to make this so hard for me?!" _Sasuke thought.

He got up off the chair in his office and decided he needed to pay the Hokage a little visit; he knew the kids would be fine. Toshiro could defend himself and he had a feeling that Houtaru could probably kill anyone in her sleep, though he had no idea why.

He jumped out his window and headed to the Hokage's tower. When he got there he saw Tsunade looking at three pictures on her desk. Some other piles of pictures where laying in separate stacks to her left. He looked at the pictures and noticed that they were of Toshiro, Houtaru and Sakura's daughter, Airi.

"You know she preformed the Kage Bunshin today for her test, not regular bunshin. Told the proctor she couldn't. She also showed advanced ninja training and beat your son in a spar with only tijutsu and use of strange kunai." Tsunade told him without greeting

"This is going to be the new team seven. Watch." She reached inside her drawer and removed three other pictures and put them under the other three. Under Toshiro's picture was a twelve year old Sasuke, looking bitter as ever. Under Airi's was a picture of Sakura, long pink hair tied back by her hitate and striking a pose towards the camera. And finally, under Houtaru's was Naruto, the Naruto who had left this village at only the age of twelve. The same Naruto who had been missing for almost seventeen years.

He compared the photos. He and Toshiro looked almost exactly the same except for their eyes. Sasuke's onyx eyes were stoic and bitter while Toshiro's midnight eyes were full with hope and longing to be understood by someone. Sakura and Airi were almost the same person except for Airi was raised the think she was the queen of the world. The picture of the two girls looked the same save for the hair colors.

Then finally he looked at Naruto and Houtaru; same foxy grin spread across the almost identical faces. Sasuke again noticed the differences between the two.

"It's almost as if she was a combination between Naruto and…"

"Hinata." Sasuke finished for her. Tsunade nodded and sighed.

"What did you have in mind?" the godaime said while standing up and looking out the window.

"Excuse me?"

"Now that you've come up with your theory, what are you going to do with the girl?" Tsunade said simply.

"I don't know. I just want Naruto to come back." Sasuke said sadly.

"We all do but now we're stuck with someone who looks like she could be the child of two of our long missing shinobi." Tsunade said sadly.

"What if we just watch her?" Sasuke suggested and continued as Tsunade looked at him questioningly. "Just keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn't get into to much trouble; she's already staying with us so I'll take the responsibility. I think the truth will come out eventually but until them maybe we should just let her come to us."

"Sasuke…I'm scared." Tsunade said with a down cast face starling the Uchiha. She had never shown an emotion besides anger and occasional understating towards him. "What if she's not lying? What if her parent's are who we think they are and they really did…."

She trailed off and tried to hold back her sob. It seemed so impossible.

Sasuke chuckled a bit "Do you really think Naruto would let himself be killed by bandits?"

Tsunade nodded and knew he was right. Something else clicked in the aged godaime's head at that moment. "He's alive!" She said a smile to her face turning to a confused looking Sasuke. "He's alive and he's going to come back. I don't know how soon but he's going to come back. She said he would."

Sasuke remembered what the blond girl had said the first time he saw her, about trusting Naruto to come back in his own time, and his eyes widened. His brain was on overload. He needed to get away and think so he headed to the place where he thought no one else would be at this hour: the Hokage Monument.

Houtaru was currently sitting on the Fourth's head, swinging her legs over the side and staring down at her hand in which her Oni hitate rested. She had long taken her Konoha one off to sleep so she raised the black cloth to her forehead and secured it around her head. She smiled as she felt closer to her parents and like she wasn't lying anymore. The symbol on her forehead symbolized her family and her country.

:Flash Back:

Naruto ran through the streets of Onigakure with a laughing Hinata on his shoulders. They were both twenty by now and had matured vastly. Naruto wore his favorite attire: his long black Oni headband, black chunin vest, black pants, fishnet shirt, black ninja sandals and of course his black coat with orange flames at the bottom with the kanji for "nine" and "onikage" on the back in orange. (A/N the Yondaime's coat cept with different colors" 

Hinata had grown into a woman and was wearing clothes similar to her husband except, where his was black and orange, her's were white with lavender swirls on the bottom of her coat with the kanji for "sun" on the back of her coat. 

She looked back and her eyes widened. "Naruto, run faster!" she was still laughing, along with everyone else who saw the sight of their beloved Onikage and his wife running through the streets with her on his shoulders. Some times it was hard to remember that the pair was still twenty. 

"I got you, Papa!" said a blur of yellow and orange as it attacked it self to the Onikage's leg causing him to trip and sending the three down to the ground. 

A young boy with spiky blue-black hair came running up to them "Otou-san, Oka-san, Imouto! Are you ok?!" he asked worriedly before the blur pulled him down to. The four started laughing like maniacs. 

They spent the rest of the day like that, just laughing and being a family. 

Houtaru sighed but quickly took her headband off when she felt a chakra signature approaching. She stashed it in her kunai pouch just in time to see Sasuke walking up and sitting down next to her, apparently not realizing she was their. The look in his eyes told the younger girl he was in his own little world.

"You know, I can't help but think that she's your daughter. To think you actually had a kid. I know you are a great father to her. I wonder what you would think of how I raised Toshiro." Sasuke mumbled to no one.

"Toshiro is a good person. It may not be my place to say but I think you did a good job of raising him." Houtaru said smiling at the older Uchiha who jumped a bit as he noticed the blond. In her mind she was going _"crap, crap, crap, crap, crap"_

"How much of that did you hear?"

"All of it. But I have no idea what you meant." That was a lie and both of the two there knew it.

After a moment of silence "Who was he to you?"

The older Uchiha looked at the young girl who was starting at him intently with her strange eyes. "Who was who to me?"

Houtaru shook her head and seemed to be in thought before continuing "All my life people have told me I looked like a certain man and that I reminded them of him. I learned that he came from here and so I came here, wanting to know everything about him. I thought, if I was really like him, I could understand why he liked this place so much. This place isn't my home. My home is wherever my family is and that isn't here, but I thought, just maybe, if I came here I could understand why people thought I looked so much like him, inside and out." Houtaru paused again, making sure she hadn't given to much information. She hadn't told a lie but her statement did nothing but confuse the Uchiha more.

She suddenly looked at him again; blue and white eyes looking intently at him "So I will ask you again. Who was the man known as Uzumaki Naruto to you?"

Sasuke felt his eyes widened before he lowered his head so his hair cast a shadow over his eyes. "He was my brother in everything but blood."

A gentle wind blew past them; making their hair blow around their faces.

It wasn't the answer Houtaru wanted but it shed new light on the elder Uchiha. Even so she still needed to know the answers to other questions. What was her father to the rest of the village? Did the village think they had lost something by losing Naruto? Why were they filled with such hatred for him when it was over something he couldn't control? Why had they exiled her father if the person who they banished him over obviously didn't want him gone?

However there was still one more question Sasuke could answer for the young girl "Did you consent to his exile?"

"Yes, I ran away and fought him. He fallowed me and brought me back. They banished him for hurting me when I almost killed him. It was my damn fault! If I hadn't run away they wouldn't have banished him?!" he shouted angrily.

"Yes they would have and you know it." Houtaru said darkly. She had a new hate for the council for she had heard her father's half of the story and now new that, even if Sasuke had not run away, they would have found another, maybe even more petty, reason to banish him.

Sasuke looked at the young girl in surprise at her statement as she continued "They obviously wanted him gone and took the first chance they could to get rid of him. So stop blaming yourself."

She stood up then and looked over the village and saw the eastern sky start to grey the slightest bit "Now, I do believe I have a breakfast to cook for my hosts." She said with a foxy grin before jumping off towards the village leaving Sasuke with more the think about. Though some part of the raven had found solace and comfort in her words. Like his old friend had forgiven him.

Toshiro awoke to a very alluring sent. He dressed quickly and ran down the hall, running into his father. They both looked at each other in confusion. If they weren't in the kitchen then who…

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! HOT PLATE! HOT PLATE!!" they heard a yell and then a crash "ITAI!" they ran to the kitchen to find a Houtaru holding a burnt hand and cursing while a very frightened looking Kyuubi hid under the table.

"You ok?" Sasuke said as he glared at his son who was laughing at comical scene. Houtaru glared at Toshiro and threw a frozen fish at him. Muttering as she picked herself up and pick up the pot that was now on the ground. She had been able to keep it from spilling and emptied it into a dish on the now full table.

Toshiro was about to retort when he saw the breakfast she had prepared. It was simple but smelled and looked delicious. Shrimp Onigiri (rice balls) and Udon noodles with warm sweet chicken on top along with sweet rice.

They all sat down to eat and chatted and joked with one another. Soon Sasuke cleared the table as Houtaru went back upstairs to get ready for the day. Toshiro then noticed two wrapped bento boxes on the counter for today's lunch so he put them in a pack to carry them.

Toshiro and Houtaru headed out the door almost an hour later and raced to the academy with Kyuubi in tow. Houtaru easily won this time (considering she knew the way there) but both kids were apprehensive. Who was going to be put on their team? Houtaru knew that she wanted to be able to protect Toshiro if he went on any dangerous missions and Toshiro knew that he would probably go insane if Houtaru wasn't on his team. She was the only one who he could connect to on any level.

Once they got there they sat down and chatted lightly before hearing the door open and looked to see both Airi, who still had the cast on, and her pink haired mother, who was glaring daggers at Houtaru. They walked over to Houtaru and Sakura smirked.

"You do know that only people who passed are allowed here? Or are you just that naïve?" she said bitterly causing Kyuubi to emit a low growl. He hadn't forgotten this girl.

"Not meaning to be rude Haruno-san, but I did pass." Houtaru said calmly.

"Oh did you now? I thought they would have disqualified you for making an illegal assault on my daughter. That's actually why I'm here; to make sure justice is served." Sakura said with a smug smirk.

"If I remember correctly I saved Airi from being disqualified herself. She was about to continue attacking her opponent after the teacher announced the match finished. I was trying to keep her from getting disqualified and my thinking wasn't rational at the time since I had to act fast. Besides, she had a medic nin look at her nose yesterday so she's probably faking her injury." The young blond explained coolly leaving the pinkette fuming.

"Why you little…" but she didn't get to finish her statement when another man stepped in the room and sighed.

"Sakura, I must apologize and say you're disrupting the class. Please leave." Shikamaru, who Houtaru knew from yesterday, said with a finally look in his eyes.

Sakura glared at him before whispering something in Airi's ear and then leaving.

"Please class, everyone take your seats while I read you your team assignments." Shikamaru said after Sakura left. Airi took the only seat available; the one on the other side of Houtaru. Kyuubi jumped up on in Houtaru's lap to take a nap.

They listened to the team assignments and Houtaru was glad to see the girl who Airi beat yesterday had passed; he name was Miri apparently. It wasn't until Shikamaru got called out "Team Seven" did Houtaru's eyes perk up. That had been her father's team's name.

"Uchiha Toshiro, Haruno Airi," Toshiro nearly choked, Airi let out a yell of joy; unaware that the girl next to her could easily kill her and was contemplating doing so "And, Houtaru." He finished and he noticed Toshiro let out a sigh of relief as Airi's face reddened in anger. He also felt a massive killer intent leave the room.

"But Shikamaru-sensei, why do I have to be on a team with her!" she said pointing at Houtaru in disgust, earning a glare from Toshiro.

"Because, the council called for a "super team" this year. As such you had the highest written score, Toshiro-san had the best physical score and Houtaru-san scores put you both to shame." Shikamaru said calmly as Airi sat back down still fuming.

Soon they finished assigning teams and were told to meet their new senseis in certain meeting spots. Shikamaru instructed the new team seven to go meat at training area 3.

As they walked down the streets of Konoha people watched them go by with a nostalgic look in their eyes. Airi was standing to close to Toshiro, who had his hands shoved in his pants and walked with an air of confidence, with her hands behind her back trying to look innocent, while Houtaru walked with her hands behind her head looking away from the other two in disgust. She wanted to kill Airi. No, it wasn't that she wanted to kill her; it was she didn't want her to be alive…anymore. She turned and saw Airi lean down trying to show Toshiro a view of her non-existent chest and began to boil. No, she wanted to kill her.

When they arrived at the field they saw a man with brown, spiked up hair and a cheery disposition leaning against the center post and reading a little orange book **(They're ba-ack!) **which he put away in his kunai pouch when he saw the trio approaching. His eyes went wide as he says Houtaru, but he had already been informed about his new students so he hid he shock quickly.

Houtaru studied the man; she couldn't help but feel that she recognized him from one of her father's stories.

"Hello, my name is Sarutobi Konohamaru and I'm your new sensei." He explained giving them a toothy grin. "Why don't we start by giving a short summery of ourselves, I'll start. You already know my name and I am the grandson of the third Hokage and student to one of the greatest teachers in the world. I have vast fighting skills and my dream simply to protect this village in any way I can."

Houtaru scrutinized the older man. He couldn't be over twenty five and wasn't the same hyperactive, annoying kid her father told her about. He seemed more mature and a bit dead inside; just like everything else in the village. She was beginning to wander if her father lied to her about the village being full of life and happiness.

"How about you?" Konohamaru said pointing to Toshiro.

"My name is Uchiha Toshiro and I'm the heir to the Uchiha clan. My abilities involve many fire style jutsu and sharingan. My dream is to help restore my clan and help my father bring back an old friend of his." This was something new, thought Houtaru.

"Good. Now you." He motioned to Airi.

"My name is Haruno Airi and I'm the daughter of the prestigious Haruno Sakura. I'm smart and my dream is to…" She squeaked and looked at Toshiro before squeaking again and blushing.

"Ok then. How about you?" he said rolling his eyes and sighing. He had gotten stuck with a love sick young girl. Great.

"My name is Houtaru and I have no family to speak of in this county (True). I have a variety of skills I learned from back home and my dream isn't worth mentioning to you. And this is my pet fox Kyu-chan. He can fight." She said holding up Kyuubi.

"What kind of skills?" the jounin questioned further.

"Well….." she started. She tried to think of what was safe to tell and what wasn't. She decided on lying to explain any demonstrations of large outputs of chakra. She also knew one thing was for certain; while here she couldn't use her eyes. It would be too risky. "My family was known to use chakra based techniques, so I have a very large amount of chakra. Basically I can manipulate chakra." That part was true. She could use chakra much like Gaara could use his sand before Shikaku was placed in her.

"Thank you, know, I presume you each brought lunches?" the new genins nodded "Well give them to me." They did as they were told and sat back down "Well, it's time for your test."

At this Houtaru shot up "What do you mean test! We just took a test!"

"Well now you're going to take another one. You see these?" He said holding up two bells. "You have until the sun sets to get the bells from me. By any means necessary, if you chose to attack me than you must attack with the" Houtaru nodded. It was only now ten o' clock so they had some time (not that I would be hard for her.)

"Konohamaru-sensei, why are there only two bells?" Airi asked.

"Well the person who wasn't able to obtain a bell by sunset doesn't pass the exam." Their new sensei explained calmly "Now! Get ready! Set! GO!" two blurs disappeared into the surrounding trees. "Well, at least they know how to hide. Or at least, two of them do." He thought eyeing the young blond who was smiling coyly at him. It made him nervous to see this young girl so collected about this.

Houtaru, however, had figured it out. She was good at playing close attention to words. He had said "if you _chose_ to attack me" and "_obtain_ a bell by sunset." She walked forward slowly and stopped a few feet in front of her new sensei. She held out her hand in front of her and smiled sweetly. Her teammates were watching, very confused, from their hiding spots. Airi thought she was just stupid and Toshiro didn't know what she was doing but knew she had probably figured _something_ out.

"May I please have the bells?"

Konohamaru smiled. He was impressed. He didn't expect them to get it for at least a few hours. He would have been impressed if they had taken an hour to figure it out but she had figured it our in less than two minutes.

He nodded and placed both the shiny silver bells in her outstretched hand. She thanked him and looked as if she was about to say something but was interrupted by a loud shrill yell "What the hell!?"

She turned around to see Airi standing there fuming. "Why did you just give her the bells?!"

"Because she asked for them, in some situations you will be forced to make out of the norm situations. This test was to test you on how well you did that." Konohamaru stated simply.

"But then there's the matter of the fact that there's only two bells and three of us." Toshiro commented. Houtaru smiled at her teammate and Toshiro looked at her with admiration "You've already figured it out haven't you?" he said in disbelief.

She nodded and jingled the bells before tossing both of them to the other two "Here you go." She said simply.

Airi smiled smugly "What? Have you figured out your not meant to be a ninja and are going back to the academy and leaving the work to the professionals."

"No, and might I remind you that if it wasn't for me, you would still be hiding in a tree." Houtaru said "The reason I gave you both the bells is because Komaru-sensei said that we must all obtain the bells by sunset. I've already obtained them and since I'm giving then to you, you have obtained them as well. We pass!" she said brightly.

Airi yelled out a shriek of joy and Toshiro smiled. Konohamaru nodded proudly. "Sorry kiddies, I'd love to stay and chat but I've got an appointment else where. Meet me back here at nine tomorrow. The plan was that today I would get to see what you guys could do but I suppose we'll have to wait until tomorrow." He then poofed away.

"Toshiro-kun, how about we go celebrate and eat some lunch! Just the two of us!" she said, turning her back on the blond. Unfortunately for the purple haired girl this failed it purpose. The gesture was meant to make Houtaru mad but ended up making the Uchiha mad instead.

"No." he said. He walked up to where his new sensei had put their lunches, grabbed his and Houtaru's and walked from the field. Houtaru shrugged, bid good-bye to Airi (who huffed and turned away in return) and followed, considering the raven had her source of food.

They sat up on the Fourth's head to eat. Houtaru couldn't help but feel worried about the following day. She had been relieved when she didn't have to fight but now she wouldn't have a choice tomorrow. She was afraid she would screw something up and have to flee Konoha for home.

"Let's make a deal." Houtaru suggested, looking over at the Uchiha who was unceremoniously stuffing his face.

Toshiro looked over at his friend, waiting for her to continue "Well, I need to be able to practice to my full extent and you need to improve, no offence. I will teach you some stuff to help with your stamina and chakra reserves, along with your sharingan, if you promise not to repeat any of the things you see me do and stand look out for me when I'm practicing."

"Alright." Toshiro nodded.

"Trust me when I say that if you tell anyone….I will probably have to leave." Houtaru sighed. Any thought of telling, which were none before, where thrown out the window and stepped on. Toshiro would let her leave because of him.

"What exactly will I be seeing?"

Houtaru was quiet for a minute "Very powerful jutsu." She looked down and noticed Kyuubi staring at her with a confused look "I trust him. You're a good lookout Kyu-chan but I need you to be teaching me things."

The fox nodded and walked up to Toshiro and stared at him. **"You hurt her, I kill you."** He said simply before curling up in Houtaru's lap again and falling asleep; leaving Toshiro with his mouth hanging wide open. Houtaru just smiled at her friend and held out her hand for him to shake and seal the deal. He shook it but not before noticing the burn from earlier that moment was no longer visible on her skin.

"It took her two minutes to pass the test." Tsunade said for the thirtieth time in the last ten minutes. This girl was continuously stunning them with her abilities. They still had no idea the extent of what she could do and the hokage was staring to get anxious.

"Thank you Konohamaru. I will be there tomorrow to watch your teams practice." Konohamaru bowed and left the room. Tsunade laid her head against her arms and sighed.

It was no longer a question of _who_ was this girl, but more of _what_ was this girl?

**I have decided to be mean and evil and demand at least 5 reviews for this chapter! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! But seriously. I need 5. I will write but I want another 5 good opinions before I post. To all of you awesome people who have reviewed before you get a virtual cookie and a virtual hug (Note that I am from the south and we hug people regularly here. It's not anything weird we just do. I learned from someone today that people up north don't do that. I was surprised.)**

**I will be typing tomorrow during my car ride so I'll try to get a new chapter up by tomorrow night (Sunday) **

**Happy Mother's Day**!


	7. Chapter 7

**I worked really hard to get this finished for today and I was really inspired by all your awesome reviews! Happy Mother's Day! PARTY!...not really but I'm feeling random today. **

**You learn things in this chapter so read on you awesome peoples read on! **

At the Hyuga household, Neji, Hisashi as well as Hinabi were all sitting at a small table. They were all sitting, looking rather lost in thought, until Hinabi spoke up.

"What are we here for Neji-san?" This caused the two men to look at her before Neji spoke up.

"There is a chance that Hinata-san is alive and she had children." Neji said. It was Hyuga custom to get down to the point but the other two at the table really wish he had given them some clue before just outright saying that.

"What makes you think that Neji?" Hisashi asked, trying to stay calm. It wasn't as hard for him because he had already suspected this. However it was a bit of a shock Neji thought the same thing.

"Yes Neji-san, what makes you think my sister, who disappeared over seventeen years ago, is still alive." Hinabi said with disdain.

"I didn't say alive. There is a chance that she isn't; however there is a chance that she had children." He explained. He didn't want to think that Hinata had possibly died but the fact was that it was a possibility. "However I have faith in her. She wouldn't let herself die if she had been a mother."

"What supports this theory?" Hisashi asked again, though he already knew.

"The new girl who has traveled to this town."

"What?! You expect me to believe that just because some girl comes into town that my sister is alive!? No! I want proof!" Hinabi yelled.

"Have you seen this new girl Hinabi-san? I can assure you that you would be surprised." Hisashi said to his youngest daughter.

"Does she look like Hinata-nee-chan?" Hinabi asked with just a hint of hope in her voice. But it suddenly flickered away "I still wouldn't believe you. Hinata is from the original main branch. The child would have to have byakugan. Besides whom would the father be?"

"Uzumaki-san." Neji said and Hinabi froze. She knew of her sister's attraction to the blond (its more like everyone knew it except for Naruto.) They both disappeared at the same time so…maybe?

"What about byakugan? If she's Hinata's child she would have Hyuga eyes." Hinabi said simply.

"That's true Hinabi-san. However there is a chance. She doesn't have Hyuga eyes but her pupils are white. This may not sound like much but…." Hisashi trailed off. Whoever this girl was there was no chance to prove she was actually the child of the two ex-Konoha shinobi. Unless she actually said it.

"Remember this is simply a theory. Hinabi-san, why don't you get going now? Konohamaru-san is actually going to be the girl's sensei so you might hear about her." Neji said. Hinabi nodded and headed out the door.

"You know something else?" Neji raised he head as he heard the older man's voice. "Hinata's child, if he or she possessed byakugan, would be the true heir to the Hyuga clan. I don't even want to think what would happen if you put Uzumaki-san's genes in the mix." Neji nodded. This girl obviously didn't have normal, if any type of, byakugan, so she couldn't actually be the heir. However...if another child existed….

Across town three perverts sat at a tea shop. Two much older than the third and all with spiked up hair.

"She reminds you that much of the little brat, does she?" the oldest of the three asked.

"No, she's like him but she's smarter. She passed my bell test in two minutes." The youngest said, still in disbelief.

"Well there's nothing we can do but watch her. I'm sure Tsunade-same already had theories and Sasuke probably wouldn't lose a chance if it meant Naruto could come back." The third added. "My old student is dead set on bringing him back. It almost makes me wonder if Naruto would try this hard to bring him back if Sasuke actually got past him." **(Cough Cough)**

Jeraiya just shook his head and downed the rest of his drink. "Well I've got to go and fill out a mission report on my recon mission to Demon Country. I fear that war is going to break out soon with all the tension Oni's causing. It really is scary; I hear most of the other countries are scared to travel to Konoha for the chunin exams."

"I hear Tsunade-sama doesn't even plan to have them this year. She mentioned something about just a simple combat test to see if anyone was actually suited to even take them. I swear, if the Onikage doesn't do something soon he's going to have the other nations knocking at his door." Kakashi added in.

"I don't think any one can get past the border. We haven't even been able to and we still have no idea what the shinobi there can do. It would be a suicide attack." Jeraiya stated simply before getting up and leaving the café.

"So Kakashi-san," Kakashi looked at the younger man with a suspicious look in his eye "Got any tips on how to train hyperactive blonds with excess chakra?"

"Let me just tell you one thing Konohamaru-san. You've got a job ahead of you." Kakashi said with an evil smile.

In the forest on the outskirts of the city, a young blond sneezed. "It seems someone is talking about me."

"It's expected. You're the first thing really abnormal to happen here for a while." Toshiro said. They had both decided that Houtaru would help Toshiro with his sharingan today and he would stand guard for her while she did her real training after tomorrow.

"Well that makes me feel special." Houtaru added sarcastically.

"Ok so, I guess the first thing is for you to activate you're sharingan for me." Houtaru instructed. Toshiro concentrated and after a few minutes felt his eyes activate. Houtaru leaned towards him and looking in his eyes "So you've only been able to activate one wheel so far?" Toshiro nodded. **(I don't know the actual name for one of the three thingies around the pupil of the eye)**

"Well, I think we should work on activating the second wheel before I start to train you on how to use it to your advantage." Houtaru said and she sat down lotus style and motioned for Toshiro to do the same. Once he was seated she started again "I want you to close you eyes but keep them activated with a steady flow of chakra. Meditate and push a large amount of chakra into your eyes and the pull it back out, but leave a bit more then was there originally."

Toshiro did so "Good, now do that over and over until I tell you to stop." Toshiro wondered how she could tell that he had actually did as instructed but saved his question for later.

After a while she told him to stop. He opened his eyes just in time to see her pupils dilate. "Ok now activate your eyes again." He did so and could actually tell that his eyes had greater chakra capacity than they did an hour ago. Houtaru leaned in and looked in his eyes closely. He could feel his face heat up "Not quite there yet. Here let me try this."

She sighed and closed her eyes and placed two fingers on his forehead "Toshiro-kun, this is the first thing you're going to see that you can't tell anyone about, do you understand?"

Toshiro nodded and Houtaru sighed again. He noticed the veins on the side of her eyes protrude and when she opened her eyes he gasped. Her pupils were gone and her entire iris was a pearly white with thin blue lines forming a swirl pattern leading to where the pupil was supposed to be. Toshiro was hypnotized by them and couldn't look away.

Houtaru concentrated on Toshiro's forehead and the raven felt a new chakra slowly leak into his head through her fingers. He felt it weave through the chakra veins in his head and felt the veins being rearranged until finally Houtaru smiled and pulled her fingers away.

"Try it now." She whispered and he did and immediately could see everything clearer and he could see everything with a new velocity.

"It worked!" Houtaru said happily and her eyes went back to normal.

Toshiro smiled and thanked his new teacher and deactivated his eyes before falling back on the grass. He had put out a lot of effort in the past hour and he was exhausted. Houtaru laughed and reached in her pack to get out one of her rice balls and gave it to Toshiro.

He ate and they sat in silence for a few seconds before Toshiro decided to ask "I didn't know you had an eye technique."

Houtaru nodded "It's a kekkei genkai passed down from my mother. My brother actually has the normal kind but I have a more hyped up version of it."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Because…. I'm special. I'm not bragging, it's just the way things are with me." Houtaru said simply, eyeing Kyuubi who was napping under a tree.

"What does it do?"

"Well, I can see the chakra system in a person's body as well as their actual nervous system and blood stream and I can…well, I can emit chakra from my eyes." Houtaru explained nervously.

"You mean like laser eyes?" Toshiro asked, stunned. He had never heard of anything like that.

Houtaru sighed and shook her head. "You know how my eyes have a spiral design in the middle?" Toshiro nodded "Well that's how the chakra will look if it hits someone."

When Toshiro gave her a confused look she held up her hand and a spiral ball of black swirling chakra formed in her hand. She got up and charged towards a random tree. The tree didn't stand a chance; it was blown back and into five other threes before settling on the ground in pieces. Houtaru turned back to Toshiro, who was stunned, and smiled.

"Did you see how the chakra swirled?" Toshiro nodded "Well I can do the same thing with my eyes." She sat back down before activating her eyes again and the same thing happened to another tree; except this time it didn't look like anything hit it, like it just flew back by an invisible impact. "If I try really hard, my father told me I should be able to inflict chakra into one's chakra system without even touching them."

Toshiro was still thinking it over. He wasn't scared, just amazed. "You mean like the Hyuga's Gentle Fist Style but you don't even have to touch them?" Houtaru nodded and Toshiro continued thinking "Can you see through things to? Like the Hyuga's byakugan?" again the blond nodded. "So…was your mother a Hyuga?"

Houtaru stiffened and Kyuubi raised his head from the ground. What was she going to say? She didn't want to lie but…she couldn't tell him the truth just yet. She had only been here for three days and didn't want to give anyone too much information yet.

"_**Oh yea, you just showed him rasengan and your aoi-byakugan. Not too much information at all."**_Shikaku sneered.

Toshiro knew she wasn't going to answer him so he gave her another question "Your chakra is black."

Houtaru looked at her new friend gratefully and nodded "I told you I'm special."

Toshiro didn't know what to think, but decided he thought she was amazing. She was so strong and probably a good resource on missions. However he was a bit disappointed she wouldn't share all her secrets with him yet. But he didn't ponder it to long because he was still exhausted. The little training they had done had wiped him out.

"One of a kind." Toshiro added smugly, earning a punch on the arm from the blond. They walked home….well Houtaru walked Toshiro sorta limped until Houtaru decided to help him out. When they got home Toshiro immediately collapsed on the couch, bringing Houtaru down with him.

Houtaru tried to get up but found that the Uchiha had already fallen asleep and when she tried to pull away he subconsciously pulled her closer. Houtaru scowled, though she really didn't mind it all that much.

"**So…is he the one who you're going to pick for your mate, Kit?"** Kyuubi asked smugly.

"Shut up, besides I'm not a kitsune. I won't 'mate' until I'm much older." Houtaru whispered sleepily. The Uchiha's steady breaths were lulling her to sleep. Also it had taken a lot of concentration to help him with his eyes today.

"**Get some sleep, kit. You certainly do look comfortable."** Kyuubi chuckled as he climbed up on a chair and also went to sleep; but not before missing Houtaru sticking her tongue out at him.

Houtaru soon also fell asleep, even though it was only about four o' clock in the afternoon.

While Sasuke was walking home he knew tomorrow was going to be a big day. Nearly everyone had heard of the girl's quick passing of the bell test. Tomorrow Konohamaru was going to test their full combat skill and had decided to ask some people to help him out with it so he could observe them. Also the hokage was going to be there along with some of the jounin.

He sighed and shook his head. This girl was a mystery to them all. He wondered if they would ever figure everything out if she didn't tell them herself.

He walked in the door and saw one of the cutest things in the world. Toshiro was lying on the sofa protectively holding Houtaru close to his body. Houtaru had shifted in her sleep so her face was now buried in the crook of his neck. He could have sworn he heard his son murmur "so warm…" in his sleep.

He smiled at them but decided it was his duty as his father to embarrass his son just a bit "Well, it looks like you two got home just fine." He said loudly waking the two. The bolted strait up and noticed there position, they pushed away from each other causing Houtaru to fall of the couch.

"Ouch! What the heck was that for Teme!?" she said with a light blush gracing her cheeks.

Toshiro, who was also tinted pink, "Hn, you probably liked it, dobe. So stop yelling at me."

They spent the rest of the following day and morning just chatting and laughing. When the next morning came both children were anxious. Houtaru because she was afraid she would reveal too much in the test today. She had told her sensei about her abilities with chakra and that was more than enough to attack with, but she had to make sure only to use her black chakra and had to use it without her aoi-byakugan.

Toshiro was also anxious for his friend. He didn't care about his test because he was already a genin however he knew that if Houtaru revealed to much she would have to leave the village. He didn't know why that was but he wasn't going to let it happen.

When they got to the training field they were surprised to see a large number of people there. Houtaru recognized all of her new friends parents, Airi and her mom, and the hokage as well as Jeraiya, her grand father was also there and her new sensei. Then next to her sensei were two other people. One was a middle-aged man with spiked up silver hair and a mask over most of his face.

"_The great copy-cat ninja, Hatake Kakashi."_ Houtaru thought.

"_**I don't think anyone could beat you in a copy game, Firefly. Remember: Monkey see Monkey do."**_ Shichi-bii said smugly. Shichi-bii was the seven tailed monkey and had given Houtaru his gift of copying any jutsu or technique she saw. Though she couldn't actually use this gift yet, she could just copy basic movements.

Next to him was a woman with long dark brown hair and Hyuga eyes. She looked like Hinata and Houtaru racked her brain for who this could be. She walked up to her sensei and saw Sasuke take his place among the other adults.

"**Looks like they all came to see your fights, kits."** Kyuubi whispered to the pair.

"They're probably here to see Houtaru's." Toshiro whispered back, he was still a bit scared that he was talking to a fox and the fox could understand him.

"**What are you going to do about it, kit? What techniques are you going to let them see?" **

"Well, it's better that they find out now about my chakra color. I'm just going to use my Chakra Arms. I'll be careful not to bring out the tails." Houtaru whispered back.

"You're what?" Toshiro asked as Kyuubi nodded.

"You'll see." Houtaru whispered quickly as they stopped next to Airi. "Ohiyo, Airi-san." Houtaru said happily.

Airi was surprised by the girl's kindness so she didn't even think of something mean to say "O-ohiyo, Houtaru-san, Toshiro-kun." Toshiro nodded in response.

"Well, now that you're all here why don't we begin? Now today we are going to test Toshiro and Houtaru on their fighting abilities in general. We want to know what you can do, so I've asked two jounin to come and fight you while I observe. Airi, you won't be fighting anyone today because your mother has requested other wise." Konohamaru explained.

They three nodded but Airi was saddened by her mother's request. She wanted to show Toshiro how good she could fight.

"Ok, so first we'll have Toshiro-san fight Kakashi-san." Konohamaru said as Toshiro's eyes widened.

"You'll do fine." Houtaru assured him. "Remember, we spent and hour and a half working on your eyes yesterday. You'll do fine." She whispered in his ear.

Kakashi walked out into the center of the field and he and Toshiro fought. Toshiro actually did most of the fighting. Kakashi was just there because Toshiro needed a moving target. He actually almost got burned a few times from Toshiro fire attacks because of the boy's new eye-sight. After fifteen minutes, Toshiro started slowing down so Kakashi knocked him out and ended it.

"He's going to give his father a run for his money." Kakashi thought as he walked back over to the adults to tell the Hokage his opinion of the boy's fighting skills.

However this didn't go over to well with Houtaru and Airi. Airi started screaming while Houtaru glared at Kakashi and walked over to her friend. She was glad to see Kakashi had merely hit a pressure point before she woke Toshiro up and used the same jutsu she used the other day to heal Miri on him. The adults watched the purple light return to her hands.

"Neji, during her fight keep a close watch on her chakra coils." Tsunade whispered and he nodded.

Houtaru helped Toshiro to his feet and Airi came over to help him back to the side of the field. Toshiro allowed Airi to help him and looked at Houtaru with a concerned look.

"Kyu-chan, go sit down." Houtaru said to her 'pet'. He nodded and sat down in Toshiro's lap.

The other woman walked to the center of the field. Konohamaru cleared his throat "Now Houtaru is going to fight Hyuga Hinabi."

So this was her aunt! Her mother had always mentioned having a sister and Houtaru stared at her; eyes widening even more as the woman got into a Hyuga fighting stance and activated her eyes. This lady meant business. She was going to attack Houtaru with gentle fist.

Hinabi gasped and her stance faltered for a moment as her eyes widened in surprise. The other Hyuga's there followed her line of vision and activated their byakugan and also gasped as they stared at the girl.

"What is it Neji-san?" Shino asked a very stunned Neji.

"It-it's…"

"Her chakra!" Hisashi finished for his nephew "There isn't a speck of blue chakra in her. It's all black!"

Everyone's eyes widened at the statement. Black chakra? Who has black chakra?

Houtaru, however, was experiencing a different dilemma. She had been taught to always return a Hyuga stance for a Hyuga stance. Now what?

So she did the next best thing. She settled her feet the same way Hinabi did but put her hands on either side of her legs as if she was getting ready to sprint. She was. If Hinabi attacked her with Gentle Fist she was going to have to run.

"You may begin." And with that Hinabi charged at the blond. She pulled her hand back, about to strike when she found Houtaru wasn't there anymore; she was about ten feet behind her in a fighting pose; though it wasn't a fighting pose she had ever seen.

Houtaru wasn't just going to go on defense. He hands started to glow with chakra and she swung her hand forward in a circular motion and a beam of black chakra headed strait for Hinabi who wasn't expecting it and got a large chakra burn on her arm. She recovered from the pain quickly and headed towards Houtaru again.

She couldn't allow Hinabi to get to close to her or else they would be able to tell she had been trained in Hyuga tijutu so instead she swung her arms again and moved her body with them; sending out two thick beams of black chakra. Hinabi dodged these but expected them to disappear; they didn't. They kept coming at her and she ended up being knocked back by a chakra "arm." She fell to the ground but managed to roll over back to her feet.

Hinabi was getting frustrated. She had never been the losing type and wanted to show this girl who was the jounin and who was the genin. She tried to attack the girl a few more times but only managed to get five feet from her before she was knocked back again.

"Those "arms" take a great amount of chakra." Shikamaru commented.

"What do you mean Shikamaru-san?" Ino asked.

"It would take a great amount of chakra just too initially form specimens of solid chakra. She is not only expelling a great amount of chakra with those attacks but she's also maintaining their form between Hinabi's onslaughts. She shouldn't be able to move with how much chakra she's using." Shikamaru explained.

"Neji, how do her chakra reserves look?" Tsunade asked. If she was expelling this much chakra Tsunade would probably need to perform medical ninjutsu on the girl to keep her from dying from lack of chakra.

"It's….the same as when this fight began." Neji said slowly.

"That's not possible. It's been almost fifteen minutes!" Tsunade exclaimed. She studied the girl and noticed that she was breathing a bit harder but that was the only sign that she was remotely tired.

Hinabi hopped back to her feet after her latest onslaught and then being knocked back. She was tired and her body now sported massive chakra burns. She had had enough. It was time to end this.

Hinabi changed positions and smirked "You're in range." She said mockingly. Before anyone realized what she was doing Hinabi shouted "_Hakke Rokujūyon Shō_."

"Hinabi-san! Don-"

But it was already to late Hinabi was charging at Houtaru, knocking the "arms" out of the way chanting "two strikes" "Four strikes" "eight strikes" "sixteen strikes" and then she reached Houtaru "Sixteen strikes" she said hitting the younger girl sixteen times in the torso "thirty-two strikes!" "SIXTY-FOUR STRIKES!" she yelled as the force from her last attack send Houtaru back into a tree as she coughed up blood and the tree broke in half from the impact.

She was still for a moment before the three Hyuga's got a fearful look in their eyes "Im-impos-posible…" they all stuttered

"Hinabi-chan, how could you use that on-" Konohamaru started running to help his new student when Neji yelled "Konohamaru watch out!"

Konohamaru stopped dead as he saw Houtaru's eyes snap open and the girl jumped up and leaped towards Hinabi, who was a good twenty feet away and swing her arms out in front of her causing two massive arms of chakra to hit Hinabi dead on and knock her unconscious.

Neji just stared. He had saw as her chakra had easily pushed past her close tensuki points like they weren't even closed in the first place. He had only been able to warn Konohamaru as Houtaru got back up. What kind of person was this?

"Houtaru-chan! Are you ok?" Toshiro said running up to his friend, even Airi was a bit concerned. Houtaru just smiled at them.

"Of course I'm ok! You really didn't think that an attack like that was lethal did you? Hyuga-san wouldn't actually close any major tensuki points." In truth she had. And it had hurt like hell!

"Well as long as you're ok." Toshiro smiled. He did a once over of his friend and found she was hardly even breathing hard anymore.

"Come on. I should go treat her wounds. I think I gave her some pretty nasty scratches." Houtaru ran over to Hinabi and gave her the same treatment she had given Toshiro. Once the purple chakra had cleared away Hinabi was still unconscious. "She must have used too much of her chakra in her last attack. Combined with her injuries she probably just has chakra depletion. Can one of you take miss Hyuga-san home? She doesn't need to go to the hospital she just needs rest."

At the girls last statement the adults came back to life. They had been shocked to see the young girl healing her opponent's injuries. Konohamaru picked up Hinabi and thanked Houtaru before telling the team that today was going to be used for team bonding time and disappeared.

The other adults went up to check on Houtaru, who kindly said she was fine and declined any help. Then they all went back to the Hokage's tower, where an interesting discussion was sure to be held.

Sakura got an evil glint in her eyes; she had a plan and was about to execute it accordingly. (**LOL! Big Words!)**

Three people were still there besides team seven. Neji, Shikamaru and Tsunade.

"How are her chakra levels, Neji?" Tsunade said calmly.

"The same as they were when she first started the fight."

"Any theories Shikamaru?" Tsunade asked.

"Not a one, this is too troublesome for words. That girl should be dead. With the extent of the injuries Hinabi inflicted on her plus the amount of chakra she used, she should be dead. But she looks as if she just took a light walk around the village." Shikamaru babbled. Then three dispersed and headed back to Tsunade's office.

"_Great! 'Team bonding time' what fun!" _Houtaru thought sarcastically.

**So what'd y'all think? I actually got some interesting reviews and I you peoples to tell me what you think is going to happen in this story. I already have the plot set out but I just want to know if I'm predictable or not! **

**Y'all might think that I made Houtaru a bit to strong but the truth of it is she's supposed to be one of those people you just can't beat no matter how hard you try…or is she? Bwahahahahaha! cough cough ANYWAYS…. **

**Like I said before I love it when you review! The next chapters going to take a little while longer to get out but I'll try to have it done before Friday.**


	8. Chapter 8

SakuraKissy:…

**Thank you to all my awesome reviewers!**

**SakuraKissy & Hinata Uzumaki-sama: ….I know……I can't spell. It's a fact of my life. XD**

**Estel undomiel:….thanks, I can never get the names right! Thanks for all your reviews! They really inspire me to write more! 3! ...I can't read French! It's cool! I take Chinese though French has always been on my list of languages to learn! **

**The song I used is "Butterfly" by Aqua. I changed the words a bit to fit more so don't kill me!**

**Tsuta – Ivy**

**Ibara – Thorn **

"I saw we either exile her or kill her." All the argument and discussion in the room stopped as Sakura spoke.

"Get out." Tsunade growled out in a low voice.

Sakura still spoke with a smug smile "Tsunade-same, listen to reason. The villagers won't like it when they hear…"

"I said get out." Tsunade said again and shot daggers at the girls retreating back as Sakura sauntered out of the room with a smirk. She was up to something and it wasn't going to be a good thing.

"I say we let it go. If I recall correctly the girl has a conference with you in a few days Tsunade-sama. Get your answers then. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check up on Hanabi-chan. Konohamaru-san probably has no idea how to care for her." And with that Hyuuga Hisashi left the room.

"He knows something." Neji muttered.

"No matter, I think he's right. I'll ask the girl questions when she comes at the end of the week. Konohamaru, come here tomorrow to receive your teams first mission." Tsunade said.

"Yoshi! I will make sure to spread word of Houtaru-san's youthfulness to my team! Farewell!" and will that Lee disappeared. Everyone else decided to talk a more routine route out of the office; through the door.

And so days went on, however everyone was still tense to learn about Houtaru's strange abilities. For three days Houtaru and Toshiro trained together, however Houtaru thought it still not a good idea to show anymore of her talents until after her talk with Tsunade so they worked on Toshiro's use of his Sharingan.

When the day finally came for the conference, Sasuke had a day off from his ninja duties so he agreed to train Toshiro for the day. He was a bit surprised when he saw his son's vast improvement over such a short period of time for he didn't know the two kids were training together.

Team Seven had also been on their first mission: it was insert drum roll to catch a runaway….cat! Yes the cat was _still_ alive and still very fast. They had also been on a couple more D missions on the past three days. Just helping with people's houses and what not; it was more like Toshiro and a couple dozen Houtaru's did the work, not that they minded, while Airi droned on about how tired she was.

Houtaru walked up the steps and knocked on the Hokage's door. When she received no answer she peered in the door only to see Tsunade sleeping with her head on some papers. Houtaru walked over to the Hokage and poked her. When that didn't work she poked her harder. She got a mischievous smirk and backed up against the wall; out of range of Tsunade's desk, chair and fist and sucked in a big breath "WAKE UP OBA-SAMA!!"

After the two had cleaned up the mess Houtaru was seated across the desk from the Hokage.

"Is Kyu-chan not joining us today?" Tsunade asked lightly.

"No, I left him at home."

"So, how do you like Konoha so far?"

"It's nice here. However I'm sure that's not the questions you want to ask me." Houtaru said knowingly.

Tsunade got up from her chair and walked over to the window. "Where did you learn all your techniques?"

"The healing technique was taught to me by my mother. The purple chakra is the color of all healing chakra in my caravan. The "chakra arms" are a kekkei genkai from my father's side. I have no last name to speak of so I don't know where either of there came from. The fact that I have black chakra….I don't even know how to answer that one. The head shaman said I was blessed by an angel when I was born. An angel that blessed me with the ability to fight like a great warrior far beyond my years." Houtaru lied; hoping it would answer all of her questions.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"My father taught me all my fighting skills."

"You do realize that with your skills and exceptional fighting, you would make an easy chunin or ever jounin, considering you beat one. Oh! That reminds me, what about your stamina?"

"I can't answer that one either. I also heal within minutes."

"Interesting. Well those are all my questions. You've just cleared a lot up for me." Tsunade said in a way that told Houtaru she didn't really believe her. Houtaru could detect a hint of sadness in her voice. "Do you have any questions?"

"Yes." Houtaru said hesitantly.

"Oh?"

"Yes I would like to know everything about a man named Uzumaki Naruto." Houtaru said and Tsunade froze. Houtaru said the same thing to the hokage as she said to Sasuke and Tsunade got up looked over her city through her window.

"Everyone here, well almost everyone, regrets the decision the council made. He was a source of life for this village and no one realized it until he was gone. He was almost like a son to me. He's the only reason I refuse to give up my position as Hokage. I won't give it up until he comes back. And it's true, you do look like him. You remind everyone of his in so many more ways than you could imagine. Everyone did treat him like trash and now everyone is regretting it. After he left the village went into a depression for almost a year when they realized they had lost their sun." By this point Tsunade was crying lightly.

She felt someone's arms wrap around her and pull her into a hug. "Arigato, oba-chan. He'll come back someday." And with that the blond left the room.

And so Houtaru fell into a schedule for almost a month. Wake up, cook breakfast, complete short mission with team, train or hang out with Toshiro, go home for a while before either making dinner, going out to eat or meeting up with their friends some place.

Her training with Toshiro had been going well. Toshiro had improved vastly with his tijutsu and Houtaru was working on a new version of rasengan. She wanted to be able to make a mini-rasengan on each finger and then a giant one in the center, the only problem was the fact that the technique took a lot of chakra control. Kyuubi was helping her along, a fact that still freaked out Toshiro, and she was currently able to get a chibi rasengan over every finger but her thumb at one time (a fact that made her thumb a constant victim to a stray of interesting curses she had learned over the years.)

The villagers had also gotten used to the blond. Some life actually came back to the village after the first confusing week and the villagers loved the girl's charisma and energy.

Toshiro and Houtaru's relationship had also gotten stronger over the last month. The duo was inseparable and Houtaru had even convinced the 'perfect' Uchiha boy to pull a few harmless pranks with her. The two were like two parts of the same whole. Yin and Yang. You could not longer mention the Uchiha without the young blond interring the conversation.

Team Seven was also good at working as a team now…..well…..not really. I was more like Toshiro and Houtaru had perfect teamwork. Like a well oiled machine. Airi never really helped, maybe just sat there and instructed on how the way to get something done, but never actually helped.

Then one day, something unexpected happened. When they got to the Hokage tower to receive their mission they were met with a big surprise:

"There are no more missions left." Tsunade said simply.

"What do you mean no mission left?! I see one labeled 'D' sitting right in front of you!" Houtaru said to the old Hokage.

"Yes, well this is a mission to go and catch the Fire Lord's wife's cat. And you can not go on that one seeing as you have been banned from receiving this mission again." The hokage explained as her eyebrow twitch.

Houtaru fell silent. How was she supposed to know that letting the cat go in the Hyuuga mansion was a bad idea?

"Well….what about a C mission then." Houtaru suggested.

Konohamaru sighed "Houtaru! You can't just-"

"No she's right. You have been a team for a month and have received D missions. It's about time I let you have a harder one. How…about…this one." She gave Konohamaru the scroll. "It's a simple one. Just journey to Grass Country and watch over the reconstruction of an old shrine."

Houtaru stiffened _"old shine in Grass County?"_

"We'll accept the mission." Houtaru said in a low voice. Konohamaru agreed and the team decided to meet up at the front gate by noon to meet the man who journeyed to Konoha to request the mission. They all headed home to pack up their supplied for the mission.

As they walked back to the Uchiha compound neither of the kids said a word. When they arrived Houtaru prepared some more food and got packed. However she was spacey and seemed to be deep in thought. When Toshiro left the room Houtaru looked over at Kyuubi; who was resting on her futon.

"Kyuubi-sama," Houtaru started. Kyuubi looked up in alarm. The only reason Houtaru formally addressed him was if the situation was dire. "The only shrine I can think of in Grass Country that would be in any disarray is **Tsuta Shrine." **

**Kyuubi finally figured out the reason for the girls fear. Tsuta Shrine was inhabited by a demon named Ibara. They hadn't tried to restore that shrine in over two hundred years and for good reasons; Ibara was a demon who was very protective of her shrine and had long ago vowed to kill anyone who dared travel deep enough into her home. However no one would know this, for the legends had been lost long ago, except for the other demons and the person who was born with the power and birthright to control them; Houtaru and the young girl had heard plenty about the demon. The demon that loved to see the blood that dripped from human's flesh as they withered in pain. The demon who loved to cause that pain but needed a 'moral' reason to do so. **

Houtaru prayed to Kami-sama they were just going to try to reconstruct the outside. If they actually tried to enter the shrine…people would die and there would be nothing Houtaru could do about. Yes, technically she was the Lord of Demons but she couldn't appear as such outside of her mind or harness her full power yet, and she was strong but she couldn't fight a demon yet and win. And trying to get a demon to listen to you when they aren't trapped inside your head is a hard thing to do. She also couldn't summon any of the Bijuu; that wasn't an option.

And who would listen to her, besides Toshiro, if she said not to take a step inside? The only reason that Houtaru had told her team to accept the mission was because she would feel responsible if anyone died because of Ibara. Demons were going to be her responsibility someday and she already felt some of that responsibility. Her only regret was putting her friend in danger. _"Toshiro-kun…"_

"_**Ibara-san, isn't actually that bad."**_ San-bii said, trying to calm the young girl.

"_**Yea, if you count "not that bad" as attacking anyone and loving to torture to people by stabbing them with thorns. No, not that bad at all**_." Shikaku added sarcastically.

"**If it makes you feel any better, Kit, I'll be there to help."** Kyuubi tried to reassure her.

"No." Kyuubi was surprised by Houtaru's dark tone. She didn't say anything while she got up and pulled some ink and paper out of her pack. She scrawled down a note and then looked back in her back and pulled out Kyuubi's bandana with the Oni symbol on it. She put the letter in an official Oni scroll container; meaning it was of the highest importance, and put the bandana and letter carrier around Kyuubi's neck.

"Take this home. Go to the library and get the scroll on Ibara. If someone pisses her off we need to know how to defeat her. I won't let anyone die because I have yet to have to power to enforce my title. You know as well as I that if she senses you that she will attack with out warning. She won't be able to sense the other inside me though. You can stay in my pack until we get out of the city but then you need to go. You know where to find me once you have gotten the scroll, Kyuubi-sama."

"As you wish, Houtaru-heme." Kyuubi responded. He knew the girl meant business when she called him by his title. Calling her by her actual title of princess also showed that he understood and would fallow her orders without questioning.

Houtaru smiled at her comrade and then tapped the Oni insignias on both the bandana and letter carrier; making them both look like Konoha symbols. "This will last until you get about ten miles from the city." Houtaru informed him and then she heard Toshiro yell for her to hurry up.

When she got down stairs Toshiro looked at the girl who had become his best friend and noticed her eyes were still serious and apprehensive.

"What's wrong, Houtaru-chan?" They had taken to using proper suffixes when they were alone. "Are you apprehensive about the mission?" He asked but he knew it wasn't that.

"It's more of a certain aspect of the mission than the actual mission it self. Kyu-chan's not going to come with us. He's going to go on his own little trip." Toshiro nodded. He had become accustom to the half-truths the blond gave him; knowing she had a good reason.

He turned to head out the door when he felt to warm slender arms wrap around his waist and felt Houtaru lay her face on his should. "Toshiro-kun….I'm scared I'll fail." Toshiro's eyes widened and he gently turned the girl around and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around him again and Toshiro sensed the desperation in her action.

"What are you so scared of failing at?"

"…..protecting those who are most precious to me." The blond whispered as she buried her face in his neck. Toshiro would have blushed if it wasn't for the seriousness of the situation.

Toshiro didn't know what to do. Houtaru had never been scared before (except when the ramen stand threatened to up its prices but that doesn't count) and he didn't know how to handle the situation. He had never been the feeling type person before this girl came. He had always been stoic and uninterested and didn't have a lot of social interaction; so this was new to him.

"Whatever it is, we'll get through it together, ok?" He said, a bit awkwardly. He pulled her face up to insure her with his eyes and gently wiped a tear from her cheek. This was the first time he had seen her cry and he couldn't stop from thinking how beautiful she looked. Her eyes were full of true sadness, not like the fake tears Airi shed all the time, but actual tears. Her eyes still sparkled though and it was beautiful in a sad way.

Houtaru nodded. "Arigato, Toshiro-kun." And without another word they were out the door.

When they got to the gate they saw that Airi and Konohamaru-sensei were both already there, talking to a man in his early thirties. He was shorter than Konohamaru, who Houtaru had noted a while ago was shorter than her father (she got bored,) and only came up to about his shoulder. He had light brown hair that was graying slightly and a lean build.

"Houtaru-san, Toshiro-san this is our employer Matsua Tsurama. Tsurama-san, this is the rest of our team; Houtaru-san and Toshiro-san." Konohamaru said introducing the pair. Tsurama looked over the two with wise eyes. He noted how the two complimented the other in everything; appearance, posture, expression, and even their eyes, though both unique shades of blue, seemed to contrast perfectly. He wondered how good these two would be in a tag-team fight.

"Very nice to meet you Tsurama-san!" the blond girl exclaimed and her counterpart nodded in turn. She gave him a big, warm smile before turning to her sensei "Konohamaru-sensei, if you don't mind, I'm going to go out in the woods for a minute. Start off without me, I won't be long." She didn't wait for him to respond as she took of through the open gait.

Konohamaru, in turn, looked at Toshiro who shrugged a response and began walking forward through the gate. "Well, I suppose we're off then." Konohamaru exclaimed and fallowed his student through the gate.

After the gate was out of site, Airi hurried up to walk next to Toshiro "Isn't this nice, Toshiro-kun?" Tsurama observed as something seemed to snap in the boys head.

"What's nice?" the raven responded, obviously trying to be polite.

"Well for one we're all alone together and what's even more is it's so peaceful with out that girl around to bother us." Airi said. She batted her eyelashes in an attempt to be flirty but it only made he look like she was having an eye spasm. What's even more is that she obviously forgot the two older men who were five feet away from her.

However it was obvious she had disregarded a serious fact that only a few (coughselfworshipingbitchescough) people could miss: insult one of the two and you will have the other to deal with.

"Airi, _that girl_ you're talking about happens to be my best friend. I actually prefer her company over yours. If you ever say or imply that she is a nuisance to anybody I will not hesitate to punch you." Toshiro said darkly.

Airi seemed a bit frightened but her face soon turned into a sly smile "I know you want me. It's fine with me. I can wait until the day comes when oka-san says they're going to kill her becau-" With that Airi was knocked back into Konohamaru by a powerful punch to the face. She looked up at Toshiro at her yellow-green eyes held fake tears as they looked into Toshiro's crimson red ones.

They didn't say a word and the tension in the atmosphere built. Blood slowly dripped from Airi's lip, the girl still in a shocked Konohamaru's arms and the expression on Tsurama's face was slightly shocked but not for the same reason Konohamaru was. Konohamaru was wondering why Toshiro had actually punched Airi but then the full realization of what she had said hit and his face hardened. He had heard about Sakura's advisory to kill the girl and wasn't pleased about it.

Tsurama was shocked for another reason. He was still amazed about the strong relationship the two seemed to have but the fact that this young boy had defended the girl to this degree amazed him. Again he wondered the extent of the two children's teamwork in battle.

Toshiro fist was still in the position it was in when he had punched Airi and his eyes were still an eerie red. "I obviously missed something." At the sound of the soft voice Toshiro's eyes went back to their dark midnight blue color but they stayed cold and brutal and his body didn't relax from the tense position it was in.

Houtaru walked over to Airi and examined her lip. A purple light engulfed her swollen lip and jaw. Houtaru looked at Konohamaru and nodded then smiled at Tsurama. She turned back and started walking down the road again. When she reached Toshiro, who still hadn't moved, she placed her hand on his fist and made it uncurl and interlaced it with her. She continued walking and gently pulled Toshiro behind her.

"Come on every one! We have a trip to make!" Houtaru shouted back with a foxy smile.

As they continued down the road no one spoke. The tension was palpable. Konohamaru was still angry at his student, Tsurama simply didn't know what to say, Airi was worrying if Houtaru had done anything to her face and Toshiro was still furious at Airi. If they killed Houtaru…he didn't know what he would do. He was also relishing the feeling of Houtaru's hand. He was amazed at how soft it was considering the amount of hands-on training she did. They should have been colossuses and rough but instead they were soft and warm.

Houtaru was concerned about her friend. She didn't know what had happened but it was obvious Airi had gotten the worst of the incident…physically saying so. However she wondered what Toshiro was thinking. She knew Airi had to have hit a major cord in Toshiro's head to have him actually punch her.

After a few hours with-out words the tension in the air had done nothing but grow until it was almost unbearable. Houtaru sensed her friend was a little calmer but that still didn't rid the uneasy feeling in the air.

"_**Sing to them, Little Firefly. We used to love it when you sang to us."**_ Jo-bii told her sincerely; trying to cheer her up.

"_S-sing?! Oh No! No, no, no, no, no! I'm not going to sing!" _Houtaru squeaked out.

Ni-bii laughed deeply _**"Ah my little Kitten, you haven't given us a show in a while. The last time was to keep me from murdering Shukaku if I remember correctly. If your singing can calm demons, than it can loosen up a tense atmosphere. Sing for them our Little Firefly. Sing a song of happiness and life."**_

Houtaru cleared her throat shyly; causing the others head to snap up in attention. She smiled shyly and then began to sing in a light voice that sounded as delicate as her mother's.

_Ay ee ay ay  
Ay ee ay ay  
Ay ee ay ay  
Where's my Samurai _Houtaru's face seemed to lighted as she sang the light tune. She skipped a bit in front of Toshiro and smiled wider.

_  
I've been searching for a man  
All across the land  
Just to find  
To find my samurai_

Someone who is strong  
But still a little shy  
Yes I need  
I need my samurai She laughed happily before continuing to skip along and sing. By this time both Konohamaru and Tsurama were both smiling and laughing with the girls antics as they continued to walk. __

Ay ee ay ee ay  
I'm Your Little Firefly  
Gold, black and blue  
Make the colors in the sky

Ay ee ay ee ay  
I'm your Little Firefly  
Gold, black and blue  
Make the colors in the sky You could almost hear the tune of music reverberating off the surrounding trees when she paused. The others watched in wonder as the setting sunlight bounced off her golden hair and made her look as if she was glowing. Toshiro's body had relaxed and a small smile graced his face. Airi's face had a look of disgust on it but no one paid any mind to it. __

I've been searching in the woods  
And high upon the hills  
Just to find  
To find my samurai

Someone who won't regret  
To keep me in this net  
Yes I need  
I need my samurai

Ay ee ay ee ay  
I'm your Little Firefly  
Gold, black and blue  
Make the colors in the sky

Ay ee ay ee ay  
I'm your Little Firefly  
Gold, black and blue  
Make the colors in the sky As if by magic they saw little glowing lights in the shadows of the trees. It was as if the glowing insects were attracted to the girls singing as she danced down the path. __

Ay ee ay ay  
Ay ee ay ay  
Ay ee ay ay  
where's my Samurai

Ay ee ay ay  
Ay ee ay ay  
Ay ee ay ay  
where's my Samurai

Ay ee ay ee ay  
I'm your Little Firefly  
Gold, black and blue  
Make the colors in the sky

Ay ee ay ee ay  
I'm your Little Firefly  
Gold, black and blue  
Make the colors in the sky

Ay ee ay ee ay  
I'm your Little Firefly  
Gold, black and blue  
Make the colors in the sky

Ay ee ay ee ay  
I'm your Little Firefly  
Gold, black and blue  
Make the colors in the sky

Ay ee ay ay  
Ay ee ay ay  
Ay ee ay ay  
where's my Samurai

Ay ee ay ay  
Ay ee ay ay  
Ay ee ay ay  
where's my Samurai

Ay ee ay ee ay  
I'm your Little Firefly  
Gold, black and blue  
Make the colors in the sky

"Why don't we stop in this town for the night Konohamaru-sensei?" Houtaru suggested making Konohamaru's head snap up. He looked to notice they were indeed at the entrance to a small out-post town. This also brought the others to attention for they hadn't realized it either.

"That's a great idea Houtaru-san. It's almost sundown and we don't have time to set up a camp. We'll have to find a place that allows animals though." Konohamaru agreed

"Why?" Houtaru asked confused.

"So Kyu-chan can stay with us." Airi said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"…Kyu-chan hasn't been with us the entire trip."

**Ok so that wasn't a very good ending but I couldn't think of anything else to finish this chapter off with. The next one will be a bit longer than this one (I think) so I'll try to have it done by tomorrow or Sunday at the latest. Review please! I need at least 5 because I love to hear what you people think. If you have any questions or are confused about something I will anger. Again I'm sorry if my spelling is ick but spell check, unfortunately, doesn't correct all my mistakes. **

**.''**


	9. Chapter 9

"Onikage-sama

**XelaKitsune: I have that game to. My friends and I contemplated suing them for not having the song. It made us very sad.**

**Blood Zephyr: O.O what did I do?! **

**SakuraKissy: LOL! I figured that out just before I got your review! And they were having one of those "Durdadur" moments so they didn't notice Kyu-chan wasn't there. .**

"Onikage-sama?" a messenger said as he knocked on Naruto's office door.

"Come in." came the response and the messenger walked in to see the Onikage putting a few large scrolls away "What is it, Tsuba-san?"

"**It's me, kit. I have brought a message."** Kyuubi entered the room and Naruto turned to the guard "Thank you, if you will excuse us please."

Once the messenger left Kyuubi jumped up in Naruto's chair "Is Houtaru-chan ok?"

"**She's fine; she actually has quite the reputation in Konoha. She actually had me carry a message back. Her team is going on a mission to restore a shrine. Unfortunately the shrine is home to a demon and she needs the information from her library. She sent me here to retrieve it."** Kyuubi explained.

"What do you mean reputation?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"**You didn't really expect her to be able to appear as a genin did you? She is doing a good job of not showing her full potential, however. She has made a friend though. He's on her team and she's actually living with him and his father. They have become quite the pair. She even trains him and in return he keeps guard while I work on her with a new version of rasengan."** Kyuubi said with a foxy smile.

"She trusts him that much?" Naruto said stunned.

"**And only him. It's actually quite cute."** Kyuubi chuckled.

"So I take it her living arrangements are good?" Naruto said getting annoyed that Kyuubi wasn't giving this boys name.

"**Yes." **Kyuubi replied, sensing Naruto's annoyance and becoming amused.

Naruto saw this was a battle he wasn't going to win. "Who did Tsunade put on her team?"

"**You'll get a kick out of this one. Should I also tell you who she's staying with?"** Kyuubi smirked while Naruto's eyebrow twitched "That would be nice."

"**Her team leader is that little runt you used to run around with, Sarutobi Konohamaru." **

Naruto laughed at the irony and he urged Kyuubi to continue "**Well, the other two members on her team are Haruno Airi,"** Naruto frowned at the last name **"And **_**Uchiha**_** Toshiro." **Naruto's eyes widened but Kyuubi wasn't finished **"The little Uchiha is actually the one who she's befriended to such an extent. It's amazing how well the two work together; just like their fathers only I must say they're a bit more mature." **

Naruto could help but smile and laugh at the irony of it all. Team seven had been reformed and they couldn't have picked better people. He was glad Sasuke had moved on and had faith his friend was taking good care of Houtaru. What was more was that Kyuubi had mentioned that Houtaru and the boy, Toshiro, had a good friendship. Actually if Houtaru was letting Toshiro see her practice rasengan it was more than good.

"Has anyone suspected anything?"

"**Of course they suspect something; the girl looks just like you. However no one could ever prove it unless she told them. Even the young Uchiha doesn't know. However the pink haired girl wants her gone. Her daughters no better than she is, if I didn't know Houtaru could easily kill her I would be worried." **Kyuubi explained with a scowl.

Naruto went over all the information in his mind "You said she had a note for me?"

"**Yes."** Kyuubi slipped the letter carrier off his neck and flung it at Naruto who caught it easily.

Papa,

I have to write this quickly so it's not very long but I promise to send Kyuubi-sama again soon with a more lengthy letter. I need you to go to my library and help Kyuubi find the scroll on a demon named "Ibara." After he finds it tell him to read it and then poof back into my mind. I know it is long but tell him to read _all_ of it; anything helps. 

I want you to know that I've met one of the best friends I could ever ask for and I will have a lot to tell you when I come back. You will definitely be interested in my stories. 

Tell Mama and onii-san I miss them and I love them. 

-Love, Houtaru.

"Well, it looks like my little girl needs our help." Naruto walked out of the room, Kyuubi fallowing behind, and walked down the hall until he came to a door with no handle but instead a black crystal in the middle of it. Naruto bit his thumb and wiped the blood over the crystal and the door opened immediately and Naruto stepped inside a room with row upon rows of scrolls lit by dozens of floating crystals.

Naruto smiled as he remembered building this room. It had been made so only people Houtaru specified could enter. The library was full with scroll on every demon that has ever existed. The nine Bijuu had helped make the scrolls by transmitting the knowledge into them, the only problem was that the Bijuu themselves forgot the most of the information put into the scrolls. The information in the library was the only place to find any of this information. The room had been made impenetrable and indestructible. Naruto walked over to the small table in the center of the room "Ibara."

Once his said that a large scroll with a thorn pattern on the paper floated from one of the book shelves and landed on the table. Naruto got up and sent a foxy grin at Kyuubi "She asked in her letter that you read all of it and then go back into her mind."

Kyuubi just glared at the man **"**_**All**_** of it?"**

"_All_ of it."

Naruto walked back out of the room and he chuckled when he heard Kyuubi' s curses from behind him. As he walked back to his office he saw the late afternoon sun through his window and wondered what his daughter was doing at the moment.

Said daughter was currently jumping through the forest with her team; a clone was carrying Tsurama and another one was carrying Airi because she didn't know how to use chakra for tree hopping yet.

They had left the small village earlier this morning. The previous night they had found a small inn to stay at and, thanks to Houtaru's 'little' stash of money, had gotten four individual rooms (this didn't stop Houtaru from crawling into Toshiro's room and talking to him until he fell asleep; this was another tradition started by the pair. They didn't think it was anything weird.)

"Let's stop and make camp for the night." Konohamaru instructed once they reached a small clearing. The team stopped and Houtaru's clones disappeared.

"Who should be in charge of what?" Tsurama asked.

"But I'm tired from out journey! Why do I have to work?" Airi wined.

Houtaru rolled her eyes "Ok then, Airi you can guard Tsurama while he rests. Let Toshiro be in charge of the fire, and I'll go get wa-"

"You cook." Toshiro said simply.

"No." Houtaru responded in the same tone.

"Yes, you're the best cook here and the only one who knows how to cook with natural herbs and such. While I gather the fire you can find ingredients. Konohamaru-sensei can go find a stream." Toshiro said with a smirk; knowing he was right.

"I hate you." Houtaru muttered with a glare.

"You're just jealous that I'm smarter than you, Dobe."

"Shut up, Teme! Go gather firewood an then shove it up your-"

"Ok that's enough of that! We all have jobs to do." Konohamaru interrupted causing the two kids to huff and go there separate ways.

About an hour later they had a big fire, fresh water, Tsurama was well protected and everyone's mouth was watering from the smell coming from the cook pot. Houtaru had gotten better at cooking over the past month but who wouldn't when you had to cook for two Uchiha men?

They were all very surprised when all that was in the pot was grilling fish. They had expected something much more complex by the smell of it. "It's seasoned with some plants I found on the trail." Houtaru explained

Once they were all done eating they got their sleeping bags out because it was a clear night and they had decided against using tents. Toshiro laid his mat down next to Houtaru's but scowled when Airi pet her mat down on the other side of his. Houtaru giggled at the expression on her friends face. He shot her a fake glare but that only made them both break out into laughter.

"You kids want to hear a scary story?" Tsurama asked "It's more of a legend than a story, though." They all nodded "It's a legend one of the old men from the village near Tsuta shrine told us to advise us against going near the shrine. He said;

Long ago there was a young demon who fell in love with a human; a gardener from a nearby village. Together they built Tsuta Shrine and gave it its name by planting ivy all around it. The human swore that he would never hurt the demon for as long as he lived however he was blinded by the demon's beauty. She was really a vile creature, one that was vain and cruel to a degree indescribable. One day, as a token of his love for her, the gardener gave the demon a single red rose from his garden but, by accident, a thorn from the rose cut her, leaving a scar. Enraged by the blemish on her perfect skin, she killed him by using the very rose he gave her.

Soon after the villagers tried to burn down the shrine but the demon simply massacred all of them the same way she had to her ex-lover; she killed them with thorns. This, however, enraged Kami-sama, so she locked the demon up in her own shrine to never come out. The demon was sealed but Kami left out one thing; humans could still journey into the shrine. The demon declared that she would slaughter anyone who dared journey to her home and no one has dared ever since and that was two hundred years ago."

"So what did you think? A load of bull, I say." Tsurama laughed.

"Some times it's smart to listen to elders." Houtaru muttered darkly, making Tsurama's laughter cease by the sound of it. She wouldn't look anyone in the eyes as she said "I'll take the first watch." before disappearing.

Toshiro watched his friend leave and couldn't help but be concerned "What's her problem?" Airi asked.

"Toshiro, I think you should find out what's wrong with Houtaru-san." Konohamaru told the raven. Toshiro nodded and was off.

Toshiro found Houtaru standing on a large branch looking to the spot where the sun just disappeared over the tip of the Great Mountain Range. "You always look at them." Toshiro commented causing Houtaru to look at him and he nodded towards the mountains "Those mountains, you always look at them. You know they are a marvel to the world? You can still see them from here but they're over a two weeks journey away from Konoha…"

"_Two weeks?! It only took me two day!"_ Houtaru thought.

"_**That's because you have more strength and stamina than others and can travel ten times as fast."**_ Ni-bii explained.

"…they're said to be the tallest mountains in the world. I wonder what climbing them is like?" Toshiro wondered out loud.

They stared at the mountains for a minute "You know something more?" Houtaru asked "Beyond those mountains is Onigakure; the Village Protected by Demons. On the other side of the mountains all you can see is a dense fog covering up everything like a sea of clouds. You can't see the end of it." Houtaru remembered the day when her father had taken her to see the village from the top of the mountains and she had marveled at how you could only see the fog if you were looking at the country. If you were accepted in the country everything was clear and beautiful.

"I've heard that but did you know no one's ever been over those mountains? Or at least no one's ever been over them that have come back? People have tried many times to get past the fog but they never can. Many people think you can't come back out if you go in." Toshiro commented.

"That's not true." Toshiro looked at his friend surprised. Houtaru's eyes widened. Had she said too much "Maybe the people that go just don't_ want_ to leave."

"I guess that could be true. But do you think people could leave on their own free will?"

"Yes." Was all Houtaru said. They were silent for a few more minutes. "You know he left a part from the story." The blond told her friend quietly.

"Oh?"

Houtaru nodded "The demon's name is Ibara. And he left out the part that when she kills people she drags it out. She enjoys it. She relishes in the screams of agony and the way the blood drips from the cuts caused by her thorns."

"Is that what has you so scared?" Toshiro asked in a shaky voice. The way Houtaru said it had him scared. Houtaru simply nodded and looked at her friend with her kind blue eyes "You should get to bed. We're going to get there tomorrow and you need you sleep."

Toshiro knew he should go to bed but he didn't want to. He wanted to ask Houtaru all the questions that haunted his mind. He wanted answers and wanted her to trust him with the truth. "Will you answer some of my questions first?"

Houtaru looked away and sighed "Two."

Toshiro nodded. "Have you ever been to the top of the Great Mountains?"

"Yes I have and like I said it's beautiful." Houtaru said smiling.

"You speak as if you know someone from Oni. Do you?"

"I know many people from Oni." Houtaru said smiling as the raven gawked. Knew people from Oni? No one had ever been able to get into Oni! The wheels in Toshiro's head started to turn and something clicked.

"So…..does that mean that….you've been inside the city?!" Toshiro squeaked out in a very non-manly voice.

Should she tell him? Is it smart? Something else clicked in Houtaru's head then as well "That's more than two questions."

"Why won't you tell me?! Why won't you trust me with all the answers?! Please! Tell me!" Toshiro said in a desperate attempt to make her answer. In truth this past month had been agonizing for him. He wanted to know all about this girl and couldn't do that if she wouldn't tell him the whole truth.

Houtaru stayed quiet for a while "The whole truth? You want the _whole _truth? The _whole_ truth is that I'm not actually supposed to be in Konoha. The _whole_ truth is that I'm not supposed to even reveal anything to anyone. The _whole _truth is that you're the one exception of that rule and it's only ever going to be you! The _whole_ truth is that I can't tell you the _whole_ truth because even the half truth is dangerous because I would have to leave. And the _whole_ truth is that I don't want to leave yet! What's even more is that the _whole_ truth is the fact that I want to tell you but I CAN'T!" Houtaru yelled leaving Toshiro speechless.

Again there was a lengthy pause before some one said something. It was more like until someone did something. Houtaru curled up and tucked her knees under her chin and laid her head on Toshiro's shoulder and the raven returned the gesture by putting his head on the blonde's.

"I will tell you someday, Toshiro-kun. I promise I will." Houtaru whispered. She looked at her friend and smiled. "You need to get some sleep."

"So do you." Toshiro commented with a yawn.

"Tell Konohamaru-sensei to change shifts with me in a couple of hours. I'll be fine." Houtaru reassured him.

Toshiro nodded and went back to camp. When he gave Konohamaru Houtaru's message he flopped onto his sleeping bag and went straight to sleep.

The next day Houtaru and Toshiro got tenser the nearer to the shrine the group got. Houtaru because she knew what awaited them when they arrived and Toshiro because Houtaru had given him the general idea. He also knew that if Houtaru was scared you should be scared as well.

When they arrived a beautiful site awaited them. The shrine looked like a pagoda except for it was a bit larger and it had walls closing off the sides. It was made of worn white marble and the entire structure was covered by vines of beautiful green ivy. There were many stone paths leading around the main building to various garden plots.

It was apparent that the crew had already replaced the old stone that made up the paths with new marble and had even planted new flowers.

This didn't fool Houtaru though. She knew that the shrine was actually much bigger than this. It extended for miles and miles underground. She could since the demonic energy coming from deep within the deadly labyrinth.

Then she saw something that made her eyes widen in horror: the door to the shrine was open.

Her terror was interrupted by a loud shout "Tsurama-san! You're back! And you brought the ninja we requested!" an old man with a gut and a balding head but big arm muscles came over.

"Yes, Komiyo-san. These are Sarutobi Konohamaru, Uchiha Toshiro, Haruno Airi and Houtaru." Tsurama pointed to each as he named them.

"Excuse me Komiyo-san, but have you sent any workers into the shrine?" Houtaru asked, trying to make it seem as if it was a normal question.

"Actually we have." Komiyo said proudly, missing the terror that came into the blue eyes "Since we don't want to damage the ivy we can't replace the stone on the outside but we can put more support on the inside. We sent a group of guys in there to look at the inside but they found a tunnel! It's quite an amazing discovery! We sent them in there and they're going to explore the tunnel for three days and then come back and we'll finish the restoration."

"No…" Houtaru whispered shakily.

"Excuse me?" Komiyo asked.

"She is wise Komiyo. She knows the legends as I do. Those men aren't coming out and their blood is on your hands. You should have believed me after your crew found the tunnel like I said they would." An aged voice said. Houtaru's ears seemed to perk up. She had heard that voice before. _It couldn't be…._

She looked to see a face she easily recognizes but something was different about the face. It was the same old, wrinkled round face of the old man who she befriended when she was three and he let her hide from her father in his basement after she pulled a prank. The old man had come to them after he had been banished from his village because he had 1/16 demon blood in him. His body was strong and held demonic energy but he was harmless because he couldn't harness the information use the energy. He had been given a demon's energy and power but hadn't been given a demon's mindset_. But this couldn't be Kazuki-san…..._

_That's is! I can't sense his demonic energy! So who is this? _Houtaru thought to herself.

The man however bowed his head respectfully, which was odd. However he recognized Houtaru as well "Hime-sama, it is an honor to meet you."

Houtaru's eyes widened as did those of everyone else. _Aw crap! Does he mean as the Demon Princess or the princess of Oni…either way, Crap!_

"What are you talking about Kazuku-san? She's a genin from Konoha, not a princess." Komiyo said as if he was annoyed. However this gave Toshiro a new question to ask his friend.

"It doesn't matter what I am! The fact is that you have to get those men out of there _now_!" Houtaru pleaded. Toshiro noted she didn't deny the fact.

"Young lady I would prefer it if you wouldn't tell me how to do my job. Those men in there know what they're doing. There's nothing in there besides old rock and dust." Komiyo said sternly.

"But-"

"Do not pay expect this fool to listen to those who's advise should be taken seriously, young one. Please come with me." Kazuku said kindly, gesturing for the young girl to fallow him.

"She's supposed to be working for me." Komiyo growled at the old man. Apparently the two didn't like each other.

"I'm sure you wouldn't mind sparing one of your workers so she can have tea with an old man. Besides, it would get me out of your hair for some time." The old man retorted and beckoned Houtaru again with his hand.

Houtaru turned to her sensei and Komiyo, bowed and said "It would be rude not to accept an honest invitation. I promise to return by sundown and start my work tomorrow and make up for the amount I missed today." Konohamaru nodded.

She gave a passing smile to Toshiro, who was more than a little annoyed he wouldn't have any more intelligent conversation until she got back, and followed the old man through the gate to the shrine and down a short path to a small village. She could have sworn she heard Komiyo mutter the words "Should have banished the demon spawn when we had the chance…." But she couldn't be sure.

As they walked through the village she couldn't help but notice how a few of the villagers shot dirty glares at the man. Houtaru had to keep herself from glaring back and she might have sent some major killer intent once or twice but just a bit. They soon arrived at a small wooden house with a large herb garden in the front that made Houtaru smile.

"So Hime-sama, may I interest you in some tea?" Kazuku asked politely, smiling at the girl. She smiled at him and he walked into the small kitchen "Any requests?"

"I find that a mixture of ginseng and orange blossom is a good mixture for a first meeting. And please, no formalities. Just call me Houtaru." Houtaru said while smiling. She still didn't know what he meant by calling her princess but she never liked formalities.

"You have good taste. And forgive me but I will pay you your due respect, but if you wish it I will call you Houtaru-hime." He put the water on the stove before turning to the girl. "Now, may I ask what the future Demon Lord is doing in a place like this?"

"I will answer that but may I ask how you know who I am?" Houtaru said in a sigh of relief.

"Ah, yes. Well you see my brother and I are twin and we each have 1/16 demon blood on our mother's side. However it was split. He got the demonic energy and body but I got a demon's mind. Unfortunately they banish him some time ago and they have never treating me with any respect. They're damn fools." He said bitterly. The pot started to boil and Kazuku started to poor the tea "I apologize for my behavior, Hime-sama. It has always been a sore subject for me. I would have gladly fallowed him but I was away at the time and by the time I got back he was long gone. However that's how I know who you are. My brain is actually more perceptive than that of another demon but I just barley registered the fact. You're very good at hiding your true nature."

Houtaru got up and walked over to a lone window on the other side of the room; giving the man a moment to breath. "I have come to deal with Ibara. I heard about the mission to simply fix up the shrine and knew that if the construction head didn't know about the demon they would all most likely end up dead." She sighed.

"What do you plan to do Houtaru-hime? I've already tried telling them. You can see how well that worked." Kazuku said to Houtaru, who was still looking out the window.

"The workers won't come back. They're probably already dead, knowing Ibara, and when the three days are up Komiyo will send my team in to find them. I'll try to separate myself from them and deal with Ibara." Houtaru still wouldn't make eye contact with the man.

"Surely, Hime-sama, there is a way besides you sacrificing yourself. With all do respect I think it would be wiser to-"

"Thank you very much, Kazuku-san. I would gladly head your advice; however I must graciously decline it for my own reasons." Houtaru sighed again "However, I have come to see that you aren't treated well here." She saw the man's face fall a bit in a grimace "I'm right. What I've seen today probably is just the tip of the iceberg and I think you deserve more than this." Houtaru said sternly surprising the old man who looked at her with confusion.

"Houtaru-hime, I have no where else to go. I've lived here all my life but…I don't think it will matter where I go. I don't have to demonic energy of a demon but people are still weary of me and-"

"You're brother is alive." Houtaru said suddenly, stopping the man from whatever he was saying.

"How-"

"I've met him. Many times actually, he's managed to get me out of a few snags with my father. He lives in my home village. I believe you have heard of it. Onigakure; the Village Hidden by Demons." Houtaru chuckled at the man's shocked expression. "I see you have heard of it."

"But I though…the legends say that…"

"Legends say that all demons are monstrosities. Are they true?" When the man tried to hide his eyes she went on "You will be respected and accepted there. The Onikage is a gracious man and will welcome you with open arms; as will the rest of the village."

They sat in silence for a while as the old man thought about his answer. "I refuse to leave you alone; I would be letting down our kind. Not protecting our princess, who would do such a thing? I will stay until you have completed your mission."

"Very well. It will give you time to prepare for your journey and I will arrange an escort for you." They chatter idly for a while, both of them drinking their tea slowly. Houtaru told him about her home and talked to him about his brother.

"After all this time and he's alive." Kazuku sighed, still having a bit of disbelief about how what the blond was telling him. He thought it was too good to be true.

"I know it's a lot to take in Kazuku-san, but are you sure you want to wait until my mission is over to go?" Houtaru said. She didn't want her new friend to be to close if Ibara decided to massacre everything she could reach.

"I couldn't go back to Onigakure and tell them I left you in the hands of a demon. I know you aren't the full Demon Lord yet and I have the suspicion you're an important relic in the village." Kazuku said with a knowing eye "May I ask exactly how you're recognized in the village?"

"Well…" Houtaru started hesitantly "They all know I'm the next Demon Lord and respect me for it but I also have a bit of a title there as well. Trust me when I say that you'll figure it out once you get there."

Kazuku nodded. "I'm afraid it's getting late and you promised to return by sunset."

Houtaru smiled and exchanged farewell remarks with the old man as she was walking back she heard "Do you think they'll come back?"

Houtaru didn't have to be a mind reader to know he was referring to the poor men who were sent to investigate the deadly labyrinth that was Tsuta Shrine. "No."

She had hoped for three days that she would be wrong but alas the morning came when the men were supposed to be back and there was no sign of them.

As the new team 7 stood before the shrine you could easily see how uneasy the blond was. They had all packed their ninja supplies incase of emergency but Houtaru knew that it wouldn't help them. She noticed Kazuku with a fearful express out of the corner of her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Well, let's go kids. We're just going to go until we find the other team then head back out. There should be a trail for us to follow and we shouldn't be in here for more than a few hours." Konohamaru exclaimed. He was bit fearful of what they would find in the shrine but thought the uneasiness in Houtaru was just caused by a fear of ghosts.

Houtaru watched as her teacher walked past the doors before fallowing slowly. She felt someone grasp her hand and turned to see Toshiro smiling reassuringly at her. She weakly smiled back.

"_**Kitten, you know that past a certain point we will lose all communication with you." **_

"_W-why!?" _

"_**It's a seal that prevents any demons to get to close to Ibara to help her. You'll be able to get through but we'll be locked away in your mind."**_ Ni-bii explained.

Houtaru let out a shaky breath and followed Toshiro through the ivy covered doors.

**I am so evil. This chapter can be described as one thing: Filler! (ew) Sorry about the cliffy but I couldn't make this chapter any longer unless you wanted an even worse cliffy! Don't worry; the next chapter will be from the time they enter the shrine to when Kazuku starts to travel to Oni! And the reason I didn't get this out sooner was because I didn't get 5 reviews until now! Seriously people, how hard is 5! I appreciate all you awesome peoples who reviewed and want to let you all know you shall have good karma for the next 48 hours (I ish the Queen of Karma as my friends have lovingly named me)**

**Give a shout out to chester-roxs for being by fifth reviewer for the last chapter!**

**Ok, so I want you to guess what's going to happen. I just want you to try to guess. I'm already writing it but if I don't post it by tomorrow it's not going to be out for the rest of the week because I have demon (the bad kind) exams! **

**MAY YOUR SUMMER BE FILLED WITH WONDERFUL SUMMERNESS! **


	10. Chapter 10

Toshito thought back to the past three days as he walked past the marble doors to the shrine

**I know y'all are mad at me for the cliffie but just read this chapter and you'll understand why I stopped where I did. I would have been pissed off at myself if I stopped anywhere else! . **

**THIS IS A SHOUT-OUT TO ****SAKURAKISSY ****CUZ SHE'S JUST AWSOME LIKE THAT! and I told you who Kazuku's brother was. Kazuki-san! **

**Estel: I agree about the Airi comment. However I also imagine the rope swinging over a fire and little cannibal people dancing around her. . Btw: AWSOME! Me and my friends are all going to Anime South next January! I'm going to go dressed as Madara Uchiha (leader of Akatsuki)! **

**All my awesome reviewers are awesome in all their awsomenisity. **

**!WARNING! This chapter get pretty….intense during the last part of it and has some kinda creepy mental images (not creepy as in funny creepy but creepy as in screaming your head off because your about to wet your pants creepy) so yea…my friend read this and basically said it scared the crap out of her. **

**The song at the end is Natasha Bedinfield's "Pocket Full of Sunshine" if you don't like the song sorry but it went with the ending. **

**P.S. (sorry this is a long A/N) Sorry I took so long but look over at the little thing that shows you how long this thing is! This is a long chapter so that's why it took so long plus I had exams and my birthday. Over 9000 words! YAY! **

Toshiro thought back to the past three days as he walked past the marble doors to the shrine while holding Houtaru's tan hand in his own pale one. Due to Houtaru and her clones getting all the outside repair work on the shrine done, his sensei had set aside some time for training and had taught them how to use the tree walking exercise. However that did no good seeing as how Houtaru could easily use chakra to walk up a powerful waterfall (though no one knew that but her), Toshiro had been taught the exercise by Houtaru to work on his chakra control so the only one who had any trouble with it was Airi. Toshiro had been disappointed that he hadn't gotten any more answers out of Houtaru. He had also noticed the growing stress the blond was building over the past three days and he had to admit he was getting fearful because he knew the blonds reasoning.

He had only been able to have a real talk with her the night before when she had come into his room and had shaken him awake. When he asked her what was wrong she had hugged him to her and let a few tears escape her azure eyes.

:Flash Back:

Toshiro felt a soft hand on the side of his arm gently shaking him from his dreamless sleep. He opened his midnight eyes only to be met by ones the color of the daytime sky. He couldn't help but smile a bit when he recalled the villagers back home saying how their eyes were total opposites of the other and complemented one another. He had felt a surge of happiness at the comment but was pulled out of his reverie by the site of Houtaru's eyes sparkling more than usual; she was crying. 

"Houtaru-chan, what's wrong?" Toshiro asked now fully awake and reached to pull the girl into his arms for a hug. 

She responded by wrapping her arms around him and hiding her face in his neck. Toshiro rubbed her back soothingly and waited for her to tell him what happened.

"We're going to have to go into the shrine tomorrow." Houtaru said shakily causing Toshiro to stiffen. "I'm scared I won't be good enough to protect you."

"You don't have to do everything by yourself. You taught me how to fight to and I'm sure Konohamaru-sensei would be fine fighting; he's a jounin after all. And Airi's really good at running so she'll be fine." Toshiro tried to comfort his friend.

She was quite for a while before sitting up again and looking out the window she had just crawled through. "If we fight Ibara….there will be no running, you can only fight her if you know how to dodge small objects coming at you really quickly." 

"I can dodge with sharingan and I'm sure you'll be fine with your chakra arms." Houtaru shook her head and pulled her knees close to her and put her head on them. Her high-pigtails fell in front of her eyes. In the silence Toshiro couldn't help but wonder if she ever took her hair down. He knew she always slept with it up because when he came to wake her up in the mornings or when they talked at night it was up.

Houtaru lifted her head and Toshiro froze at the dead look she had in her eyes. He saw her force a fake smile on her face "You're right, there's probably nothing to worry about. We probably wont even meet Ibara. So I've got nothing to worry about." 

:End:

Toshiro new she was lying about not being worried and she was probably up to something but Toshiro didn't question her. As they walked through the shrine the group stood at the top of a steep, stone staircase. They couldn't see the end of it because the light disappeared after about ten meters down. Konohamaru went to light the lantern they had but was stopped when Houtaru told him to wait.

The brunette looked at his student questioningly. "Save the lantern for later." She said smiling. She raised her palm and a warm sphere of golden light emitted from her palm. It was very bright and would easily light the four's way through the tunnel. "When I was little everyone used to call me 'Little Firefly' so I created this jutsu."

Konohamaru studied the sphere of glowing light and decided it was stable. "I'll lead the way." Houtaru said before starting down the stairs without waiting for a reply. Toshiro fallowed then Airi and Konohamaru took up the rear.

As they descended farther and farther down the never-ending stair case Houtaru's nose scrunched up. She could easily smell the rotten smell of decaying bodies and the smell made her stomach turn and her mind scream for she had still had a sliver of hope that they would be fast enough to save a few of the men.

By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs they were at least twenty miles underground and everyone could easily smell the odor that fouled up the air.

"Ew, gross! What is that smell?" Airi shrieked.

"The smell of decaying bodies." Houtaru said with a dark look on her face.

"It's just animals right?" Airi asked with fear in her eyes. She never received an answer as Houtaru continued walking down the dank passage. She lifted her glowing hand to reveal they were in a damp cavern made of stone with think ivy growing all along the walls, ceiling and some on the floor. They continued walking until they came to a tunnel.

Houtaru knew which way they should go by her extreme senses but instead she pointed to a scratched-in arrow on the wall. "They went that way." Houtaru said.

"I guess that's the path they made to mark where they had gone." Konohamaru agreed. They walked even deeper into the cave and Houtaru knew she wasn't the only one who sensed the massive amount of demonic killer intent in the air.

They walked down the tunnel and fallowed the arrows when they came to a split in the tunnel. Houtaru couldn't help but notice the smell had gotten extremely strong so she looked around a bit a something made her freeze and gasp. Airi screamed dramatically and both men stiffened. Houtaru felt her stomach turning but was able to hold it down. She had seen worse things in her time. Being an apprentice to demons whose harsh training can prepare you for anything can come in handy when you feel the sudden urge to puke.

There, mangled and constricted by the vines on the wall, was a relatively fresh corpse that had no arms and most of its features were unrecognizable.

All of a sudden they heard another scream and turned to see a vine winding its way up Airi's leg. Konohamaru, being the closest, grabbed a kunai and hastily cut through the vine. This proved to be a bad move as more ivy came to life and shot towards Konohamaru and Airi, who was still screaming. It was stopped by two 'arms' of black chakra.

"RUN!" Houtaru screamed before allowing Airi and Konohamaru to pass her before releasing her hold on the ivy and running after them. That didn't help at all for the ivy merely shot up and made a beeline for them. Houtaru could have sworn she heard a high-pitched shrieking coming from the plants. She could also smell the blood from Airi's ankle and knew they had to get out of there fast.

"Toshiro, Grand Fireball Technique! (I don't know the actual names in Japanese)" She yelled out and he nodded. He stopped for only a second to let Houtaru catch up before jumping on her back. He then leaned back so he was facing the ivy and made the hand seals "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" He yelled and a giant ball of fire emitted from his mouth and engulfed most of the ivy.

He jumped of Houtaru's back and they kept running before Houtaru yelled "STOP!" and Konohamaru stopped just short of a giant thorn that jutted out of the ground before sinking back into the ground.

"It's relatively safe if we stay here where there aren't any thorns and I don't think that ivy can reach this far." Houtaru commented and her team looked confused until held up her hand, which she had been able to keep glowing, and motioned her hands so that the others saw that the thorn had come up through a hole and there were others littering the sides, ceiling and floor past the point Konohamaru was standing.

They all timidly sat in a circle, exhausted, and sat in silence after Houtaru healed Airi's leg.

"Well," Houtaru started causing everyone's heads to shoot up as she "do we want to go back or keep going to see if anyone of the four that came in here is alive?" what her team said didn't matter. She still knew what she had to do.

"They obviously didn't survive, even if they managed to get past the vines we have no idea what's further on in the cave. I say we should just go back." Airi stated as if it was the smartest idea in the world.

"Airi has a point. Toshiro burned all the ivy so I don't think it would be that hard to go back. And this obviously isn't a scouting trip for genins. We don't even know what's in the cave yet and I can already say that if we had known this mission would have at least been a high B." Konohamaru said in a far-away voice.

That was all Houtaru needed to hear, she wasn't going to get any further with her team; she knew that, so she would have to separate herself from them.

"I think we should light the lantern now for extra light. If we're going back I think Airi should hold it so Konohamaru-sensei and Toshiro can be prepared with fire attacks because ivy grown in chains so there's going to be a lot more." Houtaru stated nonchalantly and Konohamaru and Airi nodded in agreement.

Toshiro wasn't fooled. She was giving up? Just like that? No. Was she planning to….

Toshiro discreetly activated his sharingan. It still only had two wheels but he could still see chakra pooling if he tried. Once he concentrated he saw that she had indeed been pooling large amounts of her black chakra into her eyes. A memory shot into his mind.

"_You know how my eyes have a spiral design in the middle?"… "Well that's how the chakra will look if it hits someone."_

Someone….or some_thing_!

He noticed how Houtaru back away towards the hole where the thorn was and how her eyes were pinned to the ceiling. Airi, who had lit the lantern, and Konohamaru were observing the tunnel towards the direction they had just come from; they were both oblivious to the fact that Houtaru's eyes were now white with a blue spirals.

_NO!_ He thought. She was planning to cause a cave in. Leaving them on one side, the one that lead back to the surface and her on the other, leading down into the cavern that death was surly waiting.

He didn't think about her reasons and he didn't really care as he saw chakra begin to shoot out of her eyes. He knew she couldn't be alone in this cavern, no matter how strong she may be. His body acted on impulse as he propelled himself at her "NO!" and he pushed her out of the way as the rocks came down from the ceiling and separated them from the others with a deafening noise.

She looked at her friend stunned but didn't have time to say anything as a thorn shot out of the wall and she had to push them out of the way. She cursed. "RUN!" She screamed as the two got up and ran. They dodged giant thorn after giant thorn that shot out of the walls, ceiling and floor. Houtaru couldn't ignore the horrible shrieking sounds she heard nor could she ignore the fact the Toshiro was not going to last much longer and at this rate, neither was she; the smell of decay and shrieking noise was taking it's toll on her.

"_**Kitten, let me take over! NOW!**_" Ni-bii shouted from her mind. She surrendered. She had given control to the demons a couple times before and knew what she had to do.

Houtaru froze in mid step causing Toshiro to look back and falter in his step but Houtaru still didn't move. She was concentrating. She had to let go over everything. Her thoughts, her mind, her very essence, she let it all go and felt a warm feeling, like cat's fur, being wrapped protectively around her. And then she was gone.

Houtaru felt her eyes open. She looked around. She was in a tunnel but this wasn't a dark tunnel, it was aglow due to dozen of floating orbs of light. The walls were made of what appeared to be obsidian and it was very calming to her. It should be; after all she was in her mind.

She got up off the smooth ground and looked at her reflection in the black obsidian. She was herself now. Her hair was still a spiky golden mass but now it flowed like liquid gold down her back with obsidian streaks running trough it. Her nails and teeth were shaper and she knew they could scratch diamonds. The whiskers on the side of her face were more pronounced and her eyes were now the same obsidian color as the walls with golden slit-pupils that gave her a feral look but her eyes still looked soft regardless. She had often regarded how they had changed over the years, from white irises with blue slit-pupils to this, now more piercing color. The Bijuu told her it was a sign of growing power. She also took notice of her ten extra appendages she now sported as the golden tip of one of her black tails caught her eyes. She was no longer Houtaru; the genin but Houtaru; the Princess of Daemons and the future Daemon Lord. And she liked it that way.

"**Now, now Firefly. We all know you're pretty but let's not keep us waiting just so you can impress your new little mate."** Shukaku's sarcastic voice rang out and Houtaru turned to it and headed down the hall.

Houtaru could sense the stress in the room and eyed Ni-bii. **"Kitten, I got us to the point where we can no longer communicate with you. I carried the boys past the thorns, where we spotted two of the remaining three bodies, and your body is now in an unconscious state." **

"So we're on our own now?" Houtaru asked solemnly.

"**Yes, but we all have faith in you."** San-bii assured.

"**Go now, your little mate's worrying about you**." Jo-bii snickered.

Houtaru didn't get to respond as she felt someone shaking her.

"Houtaru-chan?! Houtaru-chan, wake up!" She opened her eyes to find that she couldn't see anything. She quickly formed a ball of glowing light in her hands.

Houtaru looked at her friend and was relieved to find out he was ok. But it was short-lived for the events of how they were put in a situation where Toshiro wouldn't be ok flashed into her mind.

The idiot! All she was trying to do was get them separated but NOOOOO! He had to got and push her out of the way, make her misfire, get them separated from Airi and Konohamaru (this was her original plan but it wasn't supposed to include him!) and then get her almost killed by giant thorns.

"Teme! What the hell was that all about?!" Houtaru screamed.

Toshiro looked at her stunned. He had pushed her out of the way and then they had to start running through the tunnel because of giant thorn. He was starting to get tired and he stopped because Houtaru did and turned to see her in concentration. In the middle of a giant thorn field no less!

Out of nowhere a spike came strait from above his head. He could only manage to see it before the air was blown out of him and he was being carried at an incredibly fast speed through the field of thorns. The light emitting from Houtaru's hand was no longer gold, but purple; just like her healing chakra.

"Houta-

But he was silenced by her snapping her head in his direction. Her eyes! They were not longer Houtaru's. They were slits like cat eyes and a shade of an almost glowing purple but held a demonic look. They weren't his Houtaru's eyes and it scared him. The world seemed to freeze as he looked into those demonic purple eyes in terror. They were glaring at him. He could tell they could have held kindness in them but at the moment they were cold, demonic, angry. A part of his brain was scared of them but the other part was frantic about what had happened to Houtaru. These eyes didn't belong to her, even if she had eyes that could be this cold, this….terrifying, he would have been able to tell it was her.

When they had finally stopped Houtaru had collapsed and the light she was emitting went out leaving Toshiro in darkness. He had tried frantically to wake her up and now she was….yelling at him? What the hell?!

"Dobe! I just saved your butt!" He shouted back.

"No you didn't! I was trying to save yours! Then you go and push me back into a friekin thorn field! Why couldn't you just have seen what I was doing and done nothing!"

"Because! I'm not going to let you come back here by yourself! I'm your friend, I'm not about to abandon you!" Toshiro shouted back, a bit embarrassed. He was an Uchiha after all. Uchiha didn't say things like that, all mushy and making them sound like they cared. They made smart comments and made it clear that they were the best. Toshiro knew that if he tried that with Houtaru he would probably get slapped and would get absolutely nowhere with this stubborn girl.

Houtaru didn't respond. Damn him for making a comment she had no response to. As much as she hated to admit it he _was_ a bit smarter than her. She inwardly cursed her father, knowing she got it from him.

"Your eyes, what happened to them?" Toshiro asked, no _demanded_ of her. He decided to try being demanding with her. He had never tried it before and thought that now was a good a time as any as they were trapped, miles underground, in a cave, with a demon.

Houtaru however was debated whether or not to punch him or slap him. He _did not_ just demand an answer from her! She couldn't use Ni-bii's healing powers so hurting him would put a serious scratch in what she was trying to do. She sighed. She would have to deal with Toshiro being there and try to use the fact that she had a friend to help her.

Toshiro thought the sigh was a sign he was going to get an answer so he continued in the same tone of voice he had heard his father use to talk to many people "So?"

Houtaru glared at him. "No. Under_ absolutely_ **no** circumstances am I answering the question. Now I have to figure out how to get us **both** out of here alive and it's _your_ fault! So I suggest you _shut up_ and _keep quiet_ while _I_ think. And if you _ever_ talk to me like that again I'm going to punch you. Bad situation or not." Houtaru glared at her friend.

Toshiro nodded and put talking to her like his father talks to people one the 'list of proven bad ideas.'

"**That's right, kiddies. Come to see Ibara." **A high whisper of a voice said while a draft entered the cavern out of no where. As the wisp of air went past the two kids and down the tunnel, it seemed to light a row of eerie torches on either side of the cavern.

"_Well that's original."_ thought Houtaru sarcastically. She wasn't fearful for her life. She new that this was going to happen and knew if she showed any sign of fear Ibara would take it and multiply it.

Toshiro, however, froze in fear at the pure demonic sound of the voice. Houtaru noticed her friend's discomfort. "This is what you wanted. You _wanted_ to help me. Toshiro-kun, I have nothing more to say except for to warn you. You're meddling with demons now. There's no going back."

With that Houtaru turned and headed down the torch-lit tunnel and Toshiro followed behind cautiously.

As they walked Houtaru noticed how the ivy that draped the walls on either side of them appeared to have more and more thorns the deeper they went. She kept her senses peeled however; one of the four men who came down here was still missing and, maybe just maybe, still had a chance of living. She tried to keep that hope as she heard their footsteps echoing off the stone walls.

"What was your family? Demon hunters? Is that why you know so much about them, demons that is?" Toshiro tried to question. He was using the tone of voice he always used with her now and even though she said she wasn't going to answer his questions, he needed to know. He had an eerie feeling in the pit of his stomach. It almost made him regret coming, almost, but not quite. The feeling told him he was going to die.

"No, we aren't demon hunters." Houtaru answered in a quiet voice. She smiled a bit, but refrained from laughing at the irony. She was anything but a demon hunter.

"Then how do you know so much? And you never told me what you and that old man talked about." Toshiro pressed, quickening his pace a bit so he was now instep with his friend instead of behind her.

Houtaru sighed "We talked about the legend for he knew it as well as me. And as to why I know so much about demons….it's because….I….." however she never finished.

A scream echoed from a little ways down the cavern. It was a wail; a horrible screeching sound that sounded as if its owner was being tortured in the worst way possible.

Houtaru took off. Toshiro followed close behind and the two sped through the tunnel, adrenalin pumping through their veins. Houtaru knew what she had to do but was fearful for Toshiro. Toshiro didn't know what to feel. He knew he was helping his friend but the demonic presence in the air made him fearful, he would have been a fool not to have been scared.

The two came to a halt outside a giant wooden door that had vines with deadly looking thorns encasing it. Another scream ripped through the tunnel and they froze. All sign of any struggle from beyond the door ceased and they herd a high-pitched, demonic laugh come from inside the door.

Again Houtaru wasn't as scared as she thought she should be. She had experience with demons and knew that what-ever was behind the door wasn't worse than what she held inside her body, or even her. However she knew Toshiro was in danger and that was the only reason she was scared. She didn't care if she died, she knew that was almost impossibility, even if she didn't have the bijuu's help she was still a demon herself, though an unrecognized one. But Toshiro was human. And he was in danger.

"Stay behind me. Don't get distracted and don't let her know you're scared. She's a demon, Toshiro-kun. She's worse than most elite Jounin and far more experienced. Keep your eyes activated at all times. Use fire; remember she's a thorn demon." Houtaru instructed. Toshiro nodded and activated his eyes.

Houtaru looked at the door. There was no doorknob. _Well what were you expecting? A doorbell as well?_ She scolded herself. She however did know how demons worked. Even the lowest of the low liked politeness. She went up and with a shaky hand knocked on the giant door.

"**Come in, my dears, come in. Did you come to play with Ibara-sama?"** the same high, demonic voice said with a laugh. The doors slowly opened to reveal a circular, torch-let, stone room covered completely in thorns and ivy except for a small circular part in the center of the room, where a small form lay on the ground, and a small stone path leading into it.

"**Now, now, my dears don't be shy. Please excuse my last guest. He was no fun anyhow."** The voice said laughing but with a hit of annoyance at that last part. They slowly walked into the room. Toshiro's eyes widened and his face paled as he saw that form in the middle of the floor was in fact a body; bloodied and mangled with most of its limbs in the wrong places and eyes brutally gauged out.

"**Here, let me get rid of this nuisance and then we can play?"** A couple vines eerily slinked up out of the mass and pulled the body back with them and down into the oblivion beyond; making a gut-wrenching crunching sound as the body was crushed.

Toshiro was visibly shaking while Houtaru was impassive.

A cluster of vines rose from the rest and opened to reveal a woman. She looked young and her skin was a smooth ivory color and her hair was a light-tan color that reminded the pair of her thorns. Her face appeared to be perfect, with the exception of a small scar running down her left cheek. The only clothes she was wearing was what appeared to be a mini-dress made of leaves from her ivy. The only thing that could have given her away was her eyes. Her crimson red, pupil-less eyes set in green where white should be.

"**Ah, and who do we have here?"** The woman, demon, said in a sickly sweet voice. Neither Houtaru, who still looked impassive, nor Toshiro, who was scared into silence, answered**. "Silent are we? Well I suppose we'll just have to get the answers of you somehow now wont we?"**

With a laugh from the demon the torches went out.

The laugh echoed off the walls and Toshiro felt a cold sweat start to form. Even though the lights were out he could still see with his sharingan but it was as if he was in a thick mist. He almost jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see it was Houtaru and could tell she could easily see as well due to the amount of chakra in her eyes.

All of a sudden she was gone. It looked as if she was being pulled away by vines and suddenly a giant thorn pierced her middle and he screamed and tried to get to her but something was in his way. He dropped to the ground his eyes glued on the site in front of him as he watched her blood drip from the wound and the surprised expression on her face; her white pupils dilated in surprise and agony.

"**So sad, I guess she wasn't any fun either."** said a voice from beside him. He turned to see Ibara shaking her head at the now limp form of his friend, still impaired by the thorn. She let out a laugh as Toshiro screamed again.

All of a sudden Houtaru's head snapped up "You distracted me. I knew I shouldn't have trusted you. I'm glad I didn't share any of my secrets with you. You're not strong enough."

Toshiro let out another agonizing scream as the realization hit him and fell to the floor panting. _'Why coulnd't I be strong enough for her to trust me?'_

vvvvvvvvvvvv

Naruto paced in his office to the point where he nearly had walked a hole through the floor. Something was wrong. He knew something was wrong.

He marched out of his office to his daughter's library and entered only to find Kyuubi reading the scroll furiously. From the looks of it, the little fox was on the last few inches of the contents.

"**They really need to put something like this in the front of the school! Damn it! I need to get back to Houtaru-san and fast!"** Kyuubi muttered, not noticing the Onikage's entrance.

"What is it Kyuubi?" Naruto asked in a serious voice he reserved for serious situations.

Kyuubi looked at his old container with fearful eyes**. "Ibara has another power we didn't realize until now. Well, we realized it but it's not in the legend so Houtaru wouldn't know about it! I have to get back to her fast!" **

"Go now then." Naruto said. Kyuubi nodded and closed his eyes; ready to poof back into Houtaru's mind.

After a few minutes Kyuubi opened his eyes slowly **"no.."** he whispered.

"What! What is it?! Why are you still here?" Naruto demanded.

"**I….I can't get back. I tried and the Seal of Kami is stopping me. Damn her! Of all the times she tries to be helpful and doesn't think of all the possible outcomes… Houtaru must already be too deep in Tsuta Shrine!" **

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed, adding another string of profanities before he calmed himself, a gift he had learned from having to run a country "Kyuubi-sama, what's Ibara's gift?"

Kyuubi sighed and shook his head. **"It's something most demons have this power, but most can't use it to the extent Ibara does. We should have known with her maniacal nature and the fact that most of her signature attacks are physical and couldn't kill the way she's known for." **

"What does that have to do with anything?" Naruto demanded.

"**Always impatient. Shut up and let me finish. It's important because most demons have both a power that affects ones mind and body. Ibara's attacks are know for the thorns, however the way she kills implies it's much more painful that just getting stabbed as if with a common kunai. All demons have the power to see a human's inner most fear. Apparantly Ibara has the power to make that fear apparent to them, sort of like Itachi-san's Mangekyou sharingan. This is a common trait among demons. All nine of the bijuu, including myself and someday Houtaru, are able to do this. But we didn't know Ibara could."** Kyuubi said in a rushed voice.

"Wait, only humans?" Naruto asked thinking quickly.

"**Anything of lesser power than them."** Kyuubi said, not knowing where Naruto was going with this.

"Well then, shouldn't Houtaru be fine? I know she has more power stored up in her somewhere to out do you, right?" Kyuubi just blinked as he pondered this over, Naruto continued "If she's more powerful than you, shouldn't a common demon's power have no effect on her?"

"**I suppose you're right. Ibara would be able to tell what he deepest fears are but she wouldn't be able to put her under an illusion. However what if a human is with her? I wouldn't put it past the young Uchiha. He probably found some way to go with her, even if she didn't want him to. He is Sasuke-san's son after all."** Kyuubi said in a tired voice.

"Let's just pray to Kami that they both get out alright." Naruto said with a sigh.

"**I think she's already done enough…."** Kyuubi mumbled.

vvvvvvvvvvv

"Toshiro-kun?!" Houtaru said in a frantic voice as she saw her friend scream and collapse on the floor. **(Y'all though I had killed her for a minute there didn't you? Admit it, even if you figured it out before now, for a brief second you thought I had killed her.)**

She knelt down beside her friend and examined him with her eyes. She could see all his vitals were ok but she could feel his pulse pounding furiously, as if he was experiencing a nightmare.

His eyes suddenly flew open and he gasped. "Houtaru-chan! But…you were….and then…but you said….then the thorn….not good enough…..secrets…Dead!" he stumbled over his words.

Houtaru put her hand on the side of his face. "I'm fine, see?" she pulled his hand to her face to let him know she was alright.

"Look out!" Houtaru yelled suddenly and pushed Toshiro away from her and they landed on either side of the small ring of stone, the place where they were sitting moments ago now imbedded with thorns.

Then the thorns started raining down. They came from all direction and there was no way to escape the onslaught except to dodge. Houtaru jumped up and seemed to dance as she dodged the needles. She had inherited her extreme flexibility from her mother and both women were considerably graceful.

Toshiro managed to dodge all of the needles sent his way, his eyes could see them coming easily. He landed next to Houtaru who he noticed was untouched as well.

"**Well, it seems we have an Uchiha in our presence. But what about you, dear? What kind of eyes do you have?"** the voice rang out again and they spotted Ibara standing a few feet in front of Houtaru, inspecting her.

Houtaru made a small motion with her hand but it was enough to let Toshiro see it.

"_Ok, concentrate, Toshiro, concentrate. It's Houtaru and she's been teaching you really well. Put that awesome teamwork to good use. You want to prove to her you're trustworthy of her secrets. You don't want to see her die again do you?"_ Toshiro told himself and shuddered at the memory. He would probably go into shock after all this was over.

Then it began. Before Ibara could finish her inspection three black arms of chakra shot out from Houtaru and knocked her back, giving Toshiro enough time to pull five kunai- all with explosive tags wrapped around them out of his shurican pouch.

"Now!" Houtaru yelled as she retracted her arm and Toshiro flung the kunai towards Ibara before sucking in a breath and lighting each of the kunai with a burst of fire before they exploded and lit the ivy afire with a giant BOOM!

Houtaru got into a crouch position and Toshiro got a kunai out of his pouch; both tensed as they heard the laughter and saw fresh ivy grow out of the giant burnt patch and Ibara stepped out of it again.

"**I see you want to play then? Alright let's have some fun. Amuse me!"** She screeched and another barrage of thorns rained down from all direction; this time more than the last.

Toshiro managed to dodge most of them or deflect them with his kunai but they kept coming and coming and managed to lodge in his legs and arms, as well as scratch his face.

Houtaru on the other hand wasn't focused on the thorns so she managed the get stabbed more than Toshiro but she did manage to engage Ibara in a battle of vines and chakra arms. Her arms easily burned through the ivy and thorns and caused a burn to Ibara herself who cried out in agony at being hurt at all.

"**If that's how you want to play, my dear, be my guest!" **She screeched and a large thorn came from Ibara's direction directly towards Houtaru who easily stopped it with her chakra arms.

Ibara smirked, thinking she had gotten the pathetic girl, and shot another thorn out of the wall at a different angle but her eyes widened when she realized that Houtaru had another trick up her sleeve. Three more arms shot out from Houtaru and easily stop and destroy the coming thorn as well as the one the other arms where holding. Houtaru jumped back and the first three arms stayed but the other three retreated back to Houtaru.

Ibara noticed something strange, these new arms didn't emit from her hands like the three that were out right now, no. The other, more powerful 'arms' appeared to be tails.

"**Well, well. It seems we have a special little girl on out hands." **Ibara smirked. She knew Houtaru was special but she was having too much fun at the moment to ponder what Houtaru was. She also saw one of Houtaru's fears was being found out she was more than ordinary. Ibara didn't know why but she was going to use it to her advantage.

Houtaru stiffened but wasn't taken by the comment. She knew that if Ibara knew what Houtaru was, the demon would be on her knees begging for mercy. Houtaru may not have been able to harness her power yet, but it was demon code and any demon that killed the princess would die in turn. Basically this was a no win situation for Ibara she just didn't know it yet. If the container of the Bijuu was killed before she set them free, the nine most powerful demons would die and it would essentially send to world into chaos.

Toshiro, however was starting to find it hard to move. He probably had at least two dozen thorns in him at the moment and the latest barrage of thorns finally stopped he collapsed to one knee, panting.

"Toshiro!" Houtaru yelled and dodge another giant thorn while she jumped and landed next to her friend. She concentrated for a minute and a small dome of black chakra. She turned to him as they both tried to ignore the fact that the outside of the dome was being stabbed by random giant thorns. The thorns broke on impact but that didn't stiffen the fear the two had.

"You ok?" Houtaru asked and Toshiro nodded weekly.

"So tell me again what we're trying to do?" Toshiro asked, having never been told.

"Well, I am trying to kill her. You came along for the ride." Houtaru sighed; this was turning out to be harder than she thought. If only she had her fully recognized powers. It would make this _so_ much easier.

"_Kill_ her! How did you plan to do that!?" Toshiro screeched.

"Just wing it I guess." Houtaru shrugged.

Toshiro was about to respond but felt something happen. He heard Houtaru scream and she appeared to have a look of horror on her face. Toshiro noticed that the barrier of black chakra that had been surrounding them was gone as well as noticed the shrill laugh that came from Ibara.

"Houtaru-chan?" He asked and tried to reach out to her to see what was wrong. That's when he noticed it. As he tried to move his right arm he felt something; a blinding pain coming from his right shoulder before he felt something warm dripping down his torso.

His eyes widened his shock as he looked down to see a small prick coming out of his right shoulder. He turned to see the small prick was just the end of a much longer, much bigger thorn.

Houtaru screamed his name again and he looked to her and could barely manage to whisper "it..hurts…" before he felt the thorn push forward a bit more before pulling back out again, living a gaping hole in his chest opposite his heart.

He felt the white hot pain in his chest and it made him scream in agony. He looked up at Houtaru again and nearly yelled again as he saw her pained face. His eyes took in all of her, the way dozens upon dozens of thorns were stuck in bleeding wounds all over her body and her face was scratched and bruised from her efforts with Ibara.

But that's not what made him yell out. It was the barrage of chakra infused thorns with smaller thorns sticking out of the sides, so as not to make a smooth cut, coming right towards Houtaru's back. He knew if she got stabbed by any one of those she would suffer too much blood loss, even with her amazing stamina she would die.

He didn't know what happened. Whether his mind just knew he was already done-fore or if he knew that Houtaru's life was more important than his, he didn't know. He just moved. Ignoring the pain he flipped Houtaru over him but didn't have time to move himself and let out a scream as the course thorns stabbed him but he managed to smile as he saw Houtaru blue and white eyes- wide with horror.

"Couldn't…let you….die…." He managed to choke out as he coughed up blood and answered the unspoken question in her azure eyes.

"**Poor little boy, well, I have to admit he was fun while he lasted. He seemed so determined to be strong. Just to prove he could be worthy of your secrets. Heh, I guess he didn't want it enough."** Ibara laughed shrilly again as Houtaru walked over to Toshiro's body. Her vision was obscured by something.

"_oh, they're tears…"_ Houtaru thought as she felt something flow down her cheek. She knelt down next to Toshiro as she looked at her face. He looked so peaceful with his eyes closed _"you idiot….why? why did you have to save me? I can't heal you! Damn it! I can't heal you! I'm not strong enough yet, why did you have to come?"_

"**Aww, did you love him? Poor little girl, so sad after losing her love. Now, now, let's not let a little loss ruin our fun! Why don't you come and play some more with me**?"

She couldn't see anything. She was in her mind. She was in front of something. It was black. She could feel the power radiating from it. She reached towards it. It wasn't as close as close as she thought. She felt something. Anger. It was anger. She felt angry. Angry that she couldn't tell Toshiro her secrets, angry that should couldn't protect him, angry that she couldn't reach the black mass than seemed to be calling to her. She felt it surge through her. Anger, power! She felt it at her finger-tips. She herd Ibara's shrill laugh once again and her words and they did nothing but full the anger. She reached a little further, just a bit….further….

"**What's this? Gone into shock have we? Well…" **Ibara trailed off as s thorny vine twist around her head, ready to attack on command. **"…lets snap you out of it shall we?"**

The vine slashed through the air and towards Houtaru but never met its target. Instead it froze in mid air as Ibara froze in her spot. She was scared. A massive killer intent had filled the room along with a bloodlust and power to match one or more of the Bijuu.

Ibara watched, wide eyed, as the thorns fell from Houtaru's body and the wounds healed so quickly it could easily be seen. She stared as Houtaru's canines and nails became sharper, gaining an animalistic-like quality. Her spiky pigtails began to flail with the raising power growing around her that was putting so much pressure in the atmosphere the walls were cracking, and her hair grew more wild and untamed while midnight streaks seemed to appear making a contrast in the golden mane. Ibara stepped back a few paces. She still couldn't see the girl's eyes but she could feel the hatred and lust for blood-shed coming off the girl in waves.

Then the power seemed to double and triple before it became tangible in the form of ten black tails of chakra than loomed over Houtaru while they swayed back and forth as if they were actual tails. Ibara backed away but froze again when Houtaru's head shot up and pierced her with her gaze; her eyes, now the same midnight black as the streaks in her hair with a liquid gold slit down the center, were burning with hate and demonic power.

Houtaru released a feral growl at Ibara's and growled out the simple phrase _**"I'm gonna kill you." **_In a calm voice that would have been beautiful to anyone's ears but at the moment was laced with growls of pure demonic hatred.

Recognition finally hit Ibara full force. She thought the rumors had been false. A child born with not only the power of the Nine Great Demons but also with her own power that could best any of the very demons she held. The future Demon Lord. But there was no mistaking it. This hatred, anger, bloodlust and raw, untamed power! It couldn't belong to anything less of an incredibly powerful demon.

Ibara didn't have time to beg for forgiveness or even think to do so as a clawed hand slashed across her face as she was thrown across the room only to be punched again by the same hand. This process repeat itself until the tailed joined it their master's game of torture. Houtaru was still here but she was going to kill Ibara and a new sense had been opened to her, adding to her demonic nature and making her what she was- a demon. That feeling, that overwhelming sense, was bloodlust. She wanted Ibara to suffer. To scream for the mercy she wouldn't receive. To pay for killing all those people. To pay for killing her Toshiro-kun!

At the thought of his name Ibara was impaled by one of the tails in her stomach and it was used as leverage to fling Ibara across the room again. However Ibara was left alive but she couldn't move. She had a gaping hole in her stomach and most of her bones where broken. She looked up in horror as the girl walked slowly across the room; the ivy being crushed beneath her. The girl's face was not one of smug nature, as if she enjoyed this, no, it was one of pure hate. Houtaru stopped by Toshiro's body and looked at it slightly and Ibara tried to make this her chance and foolishly tried to send a thorn from the ceiling down to kill Houtaru.

The thorn was destroyed by the raw power in the room and Houtaru turned to face Ibara again this time sending all ten tails towards her and impaled her and sending her back into the wall behind her.

The shrine was the next thing to go as the room they were in nearly collapsed from the pressure in the room and breaking of one of its wall. It broke up and Houtaru lifted her hand slightly and her tailed shot up above her to make way of the stone above her head and up to the surface.

The room was breaking and a cloud of smoke and dust was rising from the places in between the cracks as the stone was broken apart to make way for Houtaru's tails.

Houtaru bent down and picked up her friend's body with care before she jumped up out of the collapsing room and propelled herself upwards. As she reached the top of the hole she landed on something stone and solid. She looked down at Toshiro and let out an agonizing roar again before she fell into the black oblivion of unconsciousness, somewhere in her mind hearing a splash.

vvvvvvvvvvv

Houtaru looked down the path back home, both her country and her temporary home, with a smile. A warm wind blew through the trees and Houtaru leaned her head back and let out a sigh as her pigtails blew in the breeze. She remembered back to the happening of this morning as she was standing in the exact spot she had been earlier.

:Flash back:

Kazuku stood beside Houtaru shaking her hand, a brown puppy sitting patiently by Kazuku's feet. 

"Like I said before, Yon-bii here should be able to get you back to Onigakure in no time at all, as well as provide mature conversation." Houtaru said with a smile. It had been a week since her brawl with Ibara and she was perfectly healed by now. Apparently, the second she got out of the shrine Kyuubi came back to her and him and the other Bijuu immediately set to work at healing the girl and she managed to keep her and Toshiro from drowning in the river they landed in as well as walk back to camp with Toshiro's body and collapse as soon as she got there from exhaustion. 

"I would imagine that all of the Bijuu could provide mature conversation, Houtaru-hime." Kazuku chuckled but stopped when he saw the look on Houtaru's face as she replied "Have you ever met Shukaku?" 

The sun started to peak over the eastern horizon and Houtaru nodded to Kazuku "You better be off now, take care Kazuku-san and thank you." Houtaru bowed. 

"No, Hime-same, thank _you! _You have managed to rid the world of a very evil demon and save many lives in the process. How you did so I will never know." Kazuku shook his head. 

"Neither will I." Houtaru muttered as the old man started down the path with the brown puppy in tow. 

:End:

"Houtaru-chan, say goodbye to everyone before we head out!" Konohamaru yelled causing the blond to turn around to see the crew workers waving at her.

Airi was standing besides Konohamaru and Houtaru smiled gently at Toshiro, who had bandages all around his torso, legs, arms and hands and was being held in his sensei's arms for he was unable to walk. Toshiro saw Houtaru smiling at him and stopped his brooding about being carried to return it with a weak one. The two, even though they hadn't let the other out of their sight the entire time, hadn't been able to talk at all for a week. They had even demanded sleeping in the same room because both were scared the other would disappear.

They both probably would get over the incident for a while but no one else knew that because they just clamed that there was wild animals in the cave but they had taken care of them all and the tunnel opened up somewhere else. For the past week Houtaru had been sleeping and Toshiro, who had been in critical condition, had had nurses watching over him twenty-four seven. He was going to receive better medical care once he was back in Konoha but for now was in stable condition.

"Bye everyone!" Houtaru yelled and they all waved at her as her team caught up with her.

After about an hour of travel no one had said anything. It wasn't tense like the last silence it was just that the day was so peaceful. You could hear birds chirping, the sky was a pure blue only just littered with tiny puffs of white (it reminded Toshiro of Houtaru's eyes) and a gentle breeze was blowing; like the calm after the storm.

"Houtaru-chan, why don't you grace us with another song?" Konohamaru suggested with a smile. Houtaru smiled and skipped ahead a bit before starting to sing. It was a happy care-free song. Upbeat and it matched to feeling of the day.

_I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine.  
I got a love, and I know that it's all mine.  
Oh. woah_

Do what you want, but you're never gonna break me.  
Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me.  
No. woah

Take me away:  
A secret place.  
A sweet escape:  
Take me away.

Take me away  
to better days.  
Take me away:  
A hiding place. She skipped ahead of every one else and relished in the feeling of the warm sun. She was happy and she felt free. __

I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine.  
I got a love, and I know that it's all mine.  
Oh. woah

Do what you want, but you're never gonna break me.  
Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me.  
No. woah

I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine.  
I got a love, and I know that it's all mine.  
Oh. woah

Wish that you could, but you ain't gonna own me.  
Do anything you can to control me.  
Oh, no.

Take me away:  
A secret place.  
A sweet escape:  
Take me away. No one could hurt her at the moment. She was strong. She had gained the abilities to be recognized as a demoness now. And though that might have been seen as a bad thing, she was one. She was a demon but a good demon. __

Take me away  
to better days.  
Take me away:  
A hiding place.

There's a place that I go,

But nobody knows.  
Where the rivers flow,  
And I call it home.

And there's no more lies.  
In the darkness, there's this light.  
And nobody cries.  
There's only fireflies. She smiled as she twirled around and jumped. She turned and beamed at Toshiro, she was so glad he was ok. She _would_ answer his questions. She was determined to answer them now. She just didn't know when but she _was _going to. __

Take me away:  
A secret place.  
A sweet escape:  
Take me away.

Take me away to  
better days.  
Take me away:  
A hiding place.

Take me away:  
A secret place.  
A sweet escape:  
Take me away.

Take me away  
to better days.  
Take me away:  
A hiding place.

Take me away:  
A secret place.  
To better days  
take me away.

Take me away  
to better days.  
Take me away:  
A hiding place.

The sun is on my side.  
Take me for a ride.  
I smile up to the sky.  
I know I'll be all right.

The sun is on my side.  
Take me for a ride.  
I smile up to the sky.  
I know I'll be all right.

And she knew. In the long run, everything was going to be ok, but she still had a long way to go.

**Holy Moo that was a long chapter! I told y'all that if I'd stopped at any point during that last chapter you would have chased me with sticks and killed me! **

**Sorry it took so long to get the chapter out. I had end of school exams and my birthday so this chapter took more time than usual. **

**Game! You can put in a request for anything to happen in this story and I will try to make it work with the story (odds are I'll be able to put it in) if you can guess the age I just turned last Friday! **

**Rules: The only thing I won't put in is any more couples than are already established. Like I won't make Naruto leave Hinata for any reason. No. However if you have any suggestion for couplings for the kids I'll try to fit those it as well! **

**Hint: I'm younger than most people think I am. **

**I love reviews! Ask any questions and I'll make sure to answer! **

**Peace out, fella's!….yea…no one heard me say that…..cough cough…..**


	11. Chapter 11

Ghostfur: You got the range right

**OK! So this is kinda like a filler chapter so don't get mad at me. After that last chapter I just needed all the characters to bond and have some fun. Next chapter really important things are going to happen so get ready because next chapter things are going to take a spin. **

**For my awesome reviewers with questions (or things I want to comment on): **

**Ghostfur: You got the range right! I am somewhere in between those two ages! And yes, that is most definitely going to happen. Trust me when I say that if it didn't I would probably be killed by almost everyone reading this story. I'm glad you agree! .**

**SakuraKissy: While I would love to do that, there is one problem with it. Gaara lives in Oni with Naruto and in my story he isn't the Kazekage(Sp?) So….yea….but I will make them be together, no worries. And just for you I shall add a scene where Gaara scared the crap out of him. It may be short but it'll be in there! . **

**Estel: Whilst I would love to kill Airi….I'm not going to. She's just not worth it. But she will get dissed many times and basically she is the little annoying character that ends up with nothing in the end. Yay! But she will be beaten up! Houtaru vs. Airi in an actual battle will happen but it's not going to happen when you think it is. Just a warning as to not get mad at me! . **

Deep in a never-ending mist an old man and a small puppy walked together in silence. They had been walking in this fog for almost an hour and still hadn't reached their destination.

All of a sudden the man saw the looming form of a great wall with a giant gate and what appeared to be a flaming spiral symbol on the beautifully carved stone doors. The gate opened slowly to reveal a whole group of people. Dozen and dozens of them and for a minute the old man was scared, he was used to groups of people being a sign of danger to him.

But this crowd was different. In stead of radiating hate and anger, they held a feeling of welcoming and understanding.

At the head of the crowd was a tall figure. The old man couldn't see he face because of the fog but could make out a head of spiky hair.

The fog cleared to reveal and older looking, male version of Houtaru, who was smiling the same foxy grin as his daughter. The tall man sported a long black jacket with orange flames on the bottom and he stood with an air of respectable authority around him but it wasn't so that he appeared pompous.

The man gestured with a tan hand to the city that appeared behind him beyond the gate. "Welcome to Onigakure, my friend." He said in a deep voice that sounded as if it could lead any county and Kazuku couldn't help but smile.

A smaller figure came to stand in front of Kazuku and he marveled at the woman's beauty. She had a milky complexion with hair so black it appeared blue and kind lavender eyes. She appeared soft and fragile and it also reminded Kazuku of Houtaru, so he knew that this woman was probably not as fragile as she appeared. The woman was wearing a feminine version of the jacket the man, who he guessed was Houtaru's father, was wearing but this jacket was white with light lavender swirls on the bottom.

In a light, friendly voice she said "Come, we'll show you to your new home. You must be tired after your long trek here. I hope you wouldn't mind sharing a house with your brother for a time, he has been looking forward to seeing you." Again he smiled and turned to the little brown puppy.

"Thank you so much."

"**The pleasure is all mine, Kazuku-san."** and with that the small puppy poofed away.

_10 ½ months later _

Toshiro sat on the head if the Sandaime Hokage. He was thinking, just thinking. However he thought that reminiscing would be the proper word. He was reminiscing about what happened at Tsuta Shrine, an event that seemed like ages ago. Maybe because it was ages ago. So much had happened from that point until now. Team Seven had gone on dozens and dozens of missions together and, after some of the missions they had been on, the two had gained a reputation. The duo was said to be 'unstoppable.'

Over the past few months the blond had gained her own reputation that matched her father's. They didn't call her the 'Number one hyperactive knuckle head ninja' as they had her father but it was pretty close and everyone knew that. She had a reputation for being a mastermind at surprise - more like spontaneous and unplanned - attacks but somehow her plans always managed to work out. Everyone always smiled at the blond. Though none of them would admit it they all thought that by being kind to the hyper-active blond girl they would somehow be making up for the mistreatment of her look-alike that got exiled so many years ago. She had bought life back to the village and she even had broken through the stoic Uchiha heir.

Toshiro smiled as he remembered the past months of pure agony as he trained under Houtaru. As a child he had thought no one's training could be more brutal than his fathers, but after he had healed from the incident as Tsuta Shrine Houtaru had been merciless in her training. She had him walking on water, running laps on water, doing one armed push-ups on water- all with at least 150 pounds of extra weight!** (I don't know what the translates to as kilograms but it's a good sized adult)** And it had worked! His chakra control and stamina and improved greatly.

She had also taken to teaching him a few advanced fire techniques and even taught him how to use a sword so that if he ever tried in battle he wouldn't look like an idiot. All through the training it left him to ponder exactly who had been Houtaru's teacher as a child. Little did he know it was nine giant demons and the leader of Demon Country.

Toshiro himself had also grown up a bit in the past almost year since Houtaru had come to Konoha. He didn't know if it was Houtaru's training or cooking but many people said how the young Uchiha was 'finally growing up.' He had grown taller in the past year, his twelfth birthday come and gone, and more muscular for a boy his age, he was still pale but not in a sickly way and his raven hair had grown out some. Many people said both he and Houtar would make a good chunin but he knew Houtaru had the skills of an advanced jounin though she didn't have the field experience.

A scowl returned to his face. Something was up that was far bigger than he had imagined. He had overheard his father talking about a tension between the countries. How if Onigakure didn't open its doors soon the country would be destroyed. No one knew exactly what Oni was but the fear they possessed had caused tension between the nations. Alliances had been formed and every nation save the Mist, Sand and Leaf had signed an alliance to go and take down Oni if the Onikage didn't show himself in the next half-year. This alliance held the nations of Lightning, Iwa, Grass and suspiciously Sound. **(Remember, Orochimaru isn't dead yet)**

This had caused the chunin exams to not take place due to lack of participants. People just refused to travel too far out of their own country.

However Toshiro knew Oni wasn't a bad place. Houtaru had shared with him some interesting stories about the people there. How they came from all over the world to Onigakure for different reasons. Toshiro didn't ask Houtaru how she knew all these people. She said it was because she had met them but that's all she would say.

Houtaru. Toshiro smiled as he remembered his friend, his best friend. After they got back to Konoha they had been closer than ever. Both afraid to lose the other. They hardly went anywhere with out the other- only leaving each others side for an hour or two at the most or in some cases a night when she would go spend the night with Shika and Airi but they were both restless and hardly got any sleep during those nights. They had even been sleeping in the same room together. They didn't care how weird it was; to them it was normal and made them feel safe. Even on overnight missions they would sleep in the same tent while Konohamaru and Airi shared one. Again this was normal…to them.

Over the past year Houtaru had answered so many questions, but none of the really big ones that Toshiro asked. He remembered back to one of his more ridiculous questions he had ever asked her…

:Flash Back:

It was twilight and Toshiro and Houtaru were sitting on the bridge where their team usually met in the morning. It was sakura season and they marveled at the light pink color against the darkening sky. 

The peace was interrupted by a loud gurgle noise caused by one of the two's stomachs. Houtaru laughed as Toshiro clutched his empty stomach. 

"We were at the ramen stand for almost an hour. Did you not eat anything?" Houtaru laughed. 

"No, I'm afraid all my ramen was stolen by a blond idiot who's obsessed with ramen." Toshiro said with a glare but he could never be angry at his friend. Highly frustrated, yes, but never angry. 

Houtaru laughed again "I'm sorry I wanted you to save room for dessert." Houtaru let out a small giggle as Toshiro face blanched; he absolutely hated sweets. "Lighten up will ya? Or will I have to let all these tomatoes go to waste? I'm sure we could go find some sugary-sweet item in town if you don't like them." Houtaru teased as she pulled out three tomatoes and laid them next to Toshiro, who smiled with gratitude.

If anything was proof of how well Houtaru knew him compared to others is how on his birthday all of Toshiro's fan club had given him tons and tons of…chocolate. The vile substance had made Toshiro scowl all day until he got home and Houtaru surprised both him and his father with a tomato based dinner. They had eaten that as Houtaru proceeded to eat all the chocolate and won a bet against Toshiro who didn't believe she could eat it all and not puke. 

"So…" Houtaru started as Toshiro munched away on the fruit, yes it is a _fruit_. "you haven't asked me a question in the past twenty-four hours. What's wrong? Run out?" 

He scowled at his friend. She knew perfectly well all the questions he wanted to ask she wouldn't answer. He thought for a minute and thought back to Tsuta shrine and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind: 

"Do you ever take your hair down?" 

Houtaru just stared at him for a minute, biting her lower lip in attempts to hold down a laugh that she knew was coming. After a few seconds it became unbearable and she let out one of her sunny laughs and clutched her side and fell back onto the bridge she was laughing so hard. 

"Is that it? Do I ever take my hair down?" When Toshiro nodded Houtaru worked to suppress her giggles enough to sit up answer "Only when I wash my hair."

Now this confused Toshiro. Why had he never seen her wash her hair? "Well, when do you wash you hair?" 

Houtaru just looked at him for a minute. "Toshiro-kun….when do you wash your hair?" Toshiro blanched and then blushed. Why hadn't he thought of that before "And you tell me I'm to dobe, Baka-teme." 

:End: 

Toshiro sighed. He didn't think he would ever live that one down.

"Toshiro-san," a quite voice said from beside him causing him to jump. He turned to see Yoshio sitting next to him and Kenta standing not to far back. Even though the two older boys had become some of his close friends (not as close as Houtaru), they both still kind of scared him.

"Yo." Kenta said as he munched on chips as a greeting.

"Toshiro-san, we need to go get ready for the festival. If we're late Michi-chan's going to kill me." Yoshio said in his usual monotone. Toshiro couldn't see it because of the giant collared coat and sunglasses he wore but he was pretty sure Yoshio was probably blushing. It wasn't hard to tell, to an Uchiha anyways, that the bug user had a little crush on the young Hyuuga.

"Yea, Shika-chan scares me so if we're late I'm going to die as well." Kenta said with a shudder.

"Let's get going then." Toshiro said as the trio made their way down the mountain. Tonight was the Firefly Festival and they were all going to go get ready at the Uchiha manor and then meet the girls at the Hyuuga manor. The Firefly festival was an annual celebration that celebrated when all the fireflies came out on a certain day of the year. No one knew why, they just did and it wasn't always on the same day of the year but having Aburame's in the village it was easy to plan a festival to celebrate. Everyone wore their most intricate kimono that represented something in nature, as the festival had become an overall celebration of nature, and it was custom to bring a date. That was why the six kids were all going together, three girls and three boys so no one would have to go as a couple and look all weird.

As they entered the Uchiha manor and said hello to his father, the young raven remembered something else his blond friend had told him. The night she was born was the day of the Firefly festival. She had said that her brother and she were a couple hours apart, he was born during the day and she was born while all the fireflies had lit up- earning her name.

Said blond was currently sitting on the roof of the Hyuuga manor, enjoying the view.

She smiled as she thought about the festivities tonight. The Firefly Festival was always her favorite day of the year. It had never fallen on her birthday after the day she was born but it was always close and the village always celebrated it as it marked her and her brother's birth. A slight frown graced her face as she remembered something else; her time was almost up. Her birthday was in two weeks and she had only been given a year before her father said he was going to call her back home.

The truth was she was getting very homesick. She missed her family and her village but knew when she left she would miss all her friends here, especially Toshiro.

She smiled as she remembered the past year. She had trained Toshiro and had spent long hours meditating and trying to learn to control her new endless supply of power. She knew she could now easily turn back into what she had been in the shrine but she had to work on controlling it for now. Once she got back home she could easily practice more restraint and control and she could change her look permanently. That was another reason she needed to go home and she knew she had to but still….that didn't make leaving any easier. _'Toshiro-kun…'_

"**What's on you mind, kit?" **Kyuubi questioned as he came to sit next to her.

"It's almost time to head home." Houtaru said in a quiet voice and Kyuubi sighed.

"**You're really going to miss it here, aren't you?" **

"Not the town, just my new friends." And it was true. She had met some very kind and loving people and they had become her friends.

"Houtaru! Get your blond ass down here and start getting ready! The festival starts in an hour and the guys are gonna be here in a little while so hurry up!"

Speaking of her oh so loving friends. "I'll be down in a minute Shika! Don't get your fans in a wad! You planning on coming Kyu-chan?"

"**No, I'm going to stay up here and nap. This is also where I will stay during the duration of the festival." **Kyuubi said in a bored voice.

"Well, fine then. Be that way." Houtaru huffed.

After about thirty minutes two of the girls had managed to get their complicated kimonos on but the third was having a bit of trouble. The two that were done had no trouble. Being of high status they had had to wear complex kimonos hundreds of times but Shika had not.

"Here, let me help." Houtaru suggested as she finished re-fastening her pigtails seeing as Michi was having issues putting her hair up in its usual high-bun with the ribbon she was using.

"Thanks, Pigtails." Shika said and Houtaru frowned at the nickname. Shika gave everyone a nickname so what were you going to do about it? As Houtaru helped Shika fasten her sash behind her back Shika got curious "Where did you learn to put on a kimono like this? Your family was nomadic right? I thought only shnazy people knew how to put these things on, who else would subject to this kind of torture."

The blond laughed "You know you like wearing these things. I always felt pretty when I wore something like this. I was one of the grownups and I felt like a princess. And yes, they were. You tend to pick up a few things when you're traveling all the time." Houtaru said. "There….almost….got it….done!"

"Wow, thanks a lot. Your right, I look so fine!" Shika said and struck a silly pose before walking around and swaying her hips dramatically "Hey you two, who am I? OHH! Toshiro-kun! I looooooooooove you! We're going to fall in love and have children and omg! I'm soooo beautiful I think I'm going to puke!" She said in a face high-pitched voice causing the other two to laugh at her imitation of Airi.

"Now, now, be nice, Shika. She's not that bad." Houtaru said, trying to hide her disgust for the girl.

"How can you say that!? I'm not even on her team and I hate her. She's a spoiled brat with weird hair, a giant forehead to match her over-inflated ego and all she tries to do is upstage everyone." Michi shot out, a bit frustrated because she still couldn't get her hair to cooperate.

"Seriously, pigtails! How can you not slap the hell out of her for being all over Toshiro like that!?" Shika asked.

"What are you talking about? Toshiro and I are just friends; he's free to do what ever he wants to. If, by some seriously screwed up nature, he wants to date Airi he can." She said with a light blush that was hardly noticeable.

The two older girls looked at each other with a smirk "Really?" the asked together.

"Yes really." Houtaru said a bit defensively.

"Yes, because Toshiro obviously never smiles when you're around." Shika persisted.

"And he's always been the one to talk to other people how he talks to you." Michi said with sarcasm.

"And how he never hung out with any other girls beside us."

"And how we all know he's such a people person he would talk to someone every night before he went to bed."

Houtaru muttered something causing the girls to stop. "What was that?" Michi asked.

"I said, 'we talk during the night to because we sleep in the same room.'" Causing the two older girls to squeal "No! Not like that! We're just friends!" Houtaru insisted.

"Yea, ok, whatever. Come on. Lets get you all dolled up for your 'friend.'" Shika said, she even added the air quotes with her hands.

"Damn it!" Michi shouted and threw the offending ribbon down to the floor.

"Michi! What foul language!" Shika said with fake shock.

"Shut it! I can't get my hair to work today!" the Hyuuga shrieked.

"Why don't you just wear it down?" Houtaru suggested causing the two older girls to look at her.

"I _never_ wear my hair down." Michi said.

"Seriously, pigtails. I don't think either me or white-eyes over here has ever worn our hair down." Shika said with a skeptical look.

"Well why don't you both wear your hair down? I'm sure you look fine with it down." Houtaru insisted. Shika looked as if a light bulb just went off in her hair and she hurried to the mirror and pulled her four pigtails out of her brown hair and let it fall around her face.

"Hmmm. I don't look half-bad. Come one white-eyes! Just leave your hair down." Shika agreed. Michi looked at herself in the large vanity mirror again and took a brush and smoothed out her coffee colored hair that fell to shoulder blades.

"It needs something." Michi commented and Houtaru got an idea. She reached into her little box of precious possessions and pulled out two hair combs out of her collection. **(You guys know what I'm talking about right? They look like combs but you put them in your hair and they stay there. It's a traditional Japanese thing that women wear during parties.)** They were both extremely valuable and she had gotten them as gifts from different people over the years.

She handed one to each of the girl and they each gasped.

"Do you not like them? You don't have to wear them if you don't like them…." Houtaru said, becoming a bit shy.

Michi was the first one to regain her voice. "No, that's not it at all! They're beautiful Houtaru-chan! Are you sure you want to let us wear them?"

"Of course I'm sure. You guys have been so nice to me this past year. It's the least I can do." Houtaru said as she took the comb from Michi's hand and slid it in the girl's hair before doing the same the Shika. "There! You two are all ready to go!" Houtaru smiled.

The two looked over their appearances and smiled.

Michi's kimono's theme was birds. The color of the kimono was a crimson red and it was littered with little golden birds all over it in thread but then it also had and actual picture of brown sparrows all across the back and the upper part of the kimono. She had a brown sash tied around her waist and every part of the kimono was made of silk, just like the other girls'. Her coffee colored hair was pulled to the side by the beautiful comb made of gold. On the end of the comb was a chocolate colored bird, outlined in gold and had rubies as the eyes. Her white eyes were accented by the light golden brown color Shika had put on her eye-lids but that was the only make up she had on. She was a bit of a tomboy as well as the other two girls, so all they really had on was eyes shadow and that was it.

Shika's kimono was a light purple color at the top but as it went down the purple turned into a rich green. Along the bottom part of the kimono was a picture of a heard of deer among a forest of delicately done brown trees. Along the top were pictures of white clouds and light blue swirls that represented wind. She had a royal purple sash tied around her waist and, to complete the outfit, her comb dangled down her light brown, shoulder length hair. The end of her comb was dangly and reached down from the top of her head to her chin in the form of emerald and amethyst shaped leaves on a black-steel chane. Her brown green eyes were also accented by a warm brown color, darker than what was on Michi but it was still a warm color that didn't look to overbearing.

Both girls eyed Houtaru who was smiling at them before going straight to her hair, still pulled up in its usual high pigtails on either side of her head of few inches away from her ears.

"Take them down." Shika said causing Houtaru to look at her, confused "Your pigtails, take them down. If we have to wear our hair down so do you."

"Yea, Houtaru-chan, I don't think I've ever seen your hair down. When ever you come to sleep over you always wear it that way to bed. Come on! Wear it down and put one of your combs in it." Michi persisted. The Hyuuga was starting to get suspicious. Like her father she was very observant. From what she could tell, it was as if Houtaru was raised in a high-class family. Her manners were perfect and even better than Michi's. These combs were something else only someone raised in high-class would have. They were so expensive! There were also other little things that clued her on. The way Houtaru spoke to elders, and some of the things she knew how to do like serving tea and putting on a complex kimono. The fact that the girl was over a year younger than her pointed to the fact she would have had to be taught all of this from a young age. And yet she couldn't say anything. Houtaru's story was perfect and it all added up in the end but Michi was still suspicious never the less. Even if the only way to prove that Houtaru was high-class was if her friend said it herself.

"I don't know you guys. I never wear my hair down. I only take it down when I wash it." Houtaru said unsure. It's not that she didn't like her hair - it was that it was so much easier to pull the mass of golden spike up and just leave it. She blushed when she remembered Toshiro's question to her not to long ago and couldn't help but feel smug at her friend's moment of stupidity. It made her feel smart.

"Come on! I will pull those ribbons out of your hair by force if I have to. Don't think I won't." Michi threatened.

Houtaru sighed "Fine." But before she took her hair down she opened her box again and pulled something out. When her friends looked at her questioningly she held out her hand to reveal her favorite comb. Again the friend's gaps at the beauty of it and Michi added it to the list of things the blond owned that were more valuable than a house.

The comb itself was gold and the end of it was a large obsidian dragon-fly with topaz eyes, set in gold with onyx studs. It was simple but it was also elegant in its simplicity.

Houtaru sighed again as she walked over to the vanity mirror and gently sat the comb down before reaching up and pulling the two orange bands that usually held her hair up out of the golden mass of spikes. Her hair tumbled down and landed just past her waist to rest at her butt in a perfect array of layered, golden spikes. Her hair was soft and delicate but the spikes gave it a certain kick. Most would be surprised her hair was actually this long. The high way she wore it made it look at least three inches shorter than it was. She carefully placed the comb on the right side of her head and turned to face her friends, who mouths were agape and she blushed.

"What?"

"It's your hair! From the back we can barely recognize you!" Shika said, it was true. They had gotten so used to the blonde's hair that seeing it any differently was like watching the sun rise from the west.

"So…I look ok?" Houtaru asked shyly.

"You look great, Houtaru-chan! Toshiro's going to die from loss of blood when he sees you!" Michi said causing the pink tint to rise in Houtaru's cheeks.

Houtaru's kimono was supposed to represent the sunset. At the bottom there was a half circle of golden light setting over a mountain and the scene was surrounded by pinks and oranges. As you got closer to the top of the kimono it got darker and darker until the entire area above Houtaru's golden sash was a black obsidian color with little golden fireflies that appeared as if they were dancing around in the black silk. Her entire back was littered with fireflies but you could no longer see it due to her long hair. She considered it a good thing for a second, because now people couldn't see the golden, flaming spiral on the collar. Her strange sapphire and pearl eyes seemed to pop out due to the fact Shika had put a smoky black color on her eyes.

"Well, I must say we will probably be the sexiest girls there!" Shika said proudly.

"Oh yes, Shika-chan. Kenta-kun will absolutely love your outfit!" Houtaru teased.

Shika was about to retort when a knock was herd at the door. Michi told the person to come in and the door opened to reveal a maid.

"Excuse me, Mistress, but your parents have requested your presence downstairs. They would like to see you off before you go to the festival." Michi thanked her and excused her for the night.

"Shall we ladies?" Shika asked and held out her arms. The other two girls linked arms with her and nodded "We shall." And they walked down the hall, pretending to act all high and mighty which led to more Airi impersonations which led to more giggling.

They walking into the front room where Neji and TenTen were talking quietly with Hiashi, all wearing their festival kimonos and talking cheerfully.

As the three girls walked into the room the conversation stopped as they appraised the girls. They only knew that Houtaru was there was because of the color of her hair.

"Darling, you look beautiful!" Tenten said to Michi with a smile and her father and grandfather nodded their agreement. Something shiny caught Tenten's eyes and she delicately traced the sparrow on the comb "Where did you get this?"

"Houtaru-chan lent both me and Shika some of her combs to wear because we all agreed to wear our hair down." Michi said and the adult's eyes widened. The two men where both Hyuuga's and knew that the combs were worth a fortune by just looking at them. Hiashi smiled. He already had a gut feeling about this girl. There were just some things a grandfather could tell.

Neji, however, was still confused but suspicious. However, just like his daughter, he had noticed little hints that the blond had been raised in a high-class home over the past months.

"Lord Hyuuga, Young Masters Aburame, Akamichi and Uchiha are all here. Should I let them in?" the guard questioned.

"Thank you, but we'll just go out and meet them. See you at the festival, tou-san and oka-san! Ja ne!" Michi shouted over her shoulder as they made a way for the front courtyard.

"Ja ne!" the other two yelled also and bowed a bit before fallowing Michi. They all slipped their traditional sandals on and walked out the door.

The guys quickly composed their faces after seeing the girls before the very ones they were ogling at wouldn't see them with their mouths wide open. The boys were now all thirteen except for Toshiro who was a year younger but they all were beginning to experience those awkward hormonal years and for the life of them they thought the girls look hot!

The girls smiled. The boys didn't look so shabby either. They were all dressed in men's kimonos that were much simpler than the girls but just as fitting.

Yoshio's kimono was a simple gray color with a silver spider-wed design printed all over it in silver thread with what appeared to be drops of water over the silver web design.

Kenta's was a cheery color of light yellow with a orange lining and green butterflies along the back and tied with a emerald green sash.

Houtaru smiled as she walked over to Toshiro "You look very nice, Toshiro-kun." Toshiro blushed but he couldn't return the complement because he didn't trust his voice yet. (He started the whole voice change thing and didn't trust his voice not to squeak to the pitch of Airi's when he was embarrassed)

Toshiro's kimono was a dark navy blue with silvers stars and the full moon on the upper half wile the bottom was a picture of tree with frozen ice crystallized on the bare branches.

"I uhh like you hair." Toshiro said with a blush "I guess that's what it looks like down."

Houtaru laughed, immediately calming all of Toshiro's nerves and he smiled as well "Yup! I guess it is!"

"Ahem." Some one coughed behind them and the two turned to see Shika's and Kenta's arms linked together as well as Michi's and Yoshio's (the latter was now a tint of pink that you could see now that he didn't have his overcoat on. However he was still wearing his sunglasses even though is was getting dark out. He was just cool like that). Apparently Shika was the one who had coughed, "Well, we decided to pair up to make sure everyone has someone to be with the entire night if we wanted to spilt up. So…."

The two kids blushed a bit and stood in awkward silence for a minute as their friends started heading down the street. They didn't know what was so weird!. For Kami's sake they slept in the same bed! They should be able to _pretend_ that they're on a date. Why was this so awkward?

Toshiro held out his arm and Houtaru took it silently. Houtaru laughed for a moment and Toshiro looked at her questioningly, she just shook her head "Well, someone has to protect you from Airi and her band of sluts from hell."

As they entered the festival Houtaru immediately ran to the booth where they were selling sparklers and bought ten, lit them all and her and Toshiro chased their friends around the streets laughing. (and only managed to almost set one booth fire)

They ran around and enjoyed the booths. Toshiro had been to this festival every year since he was born but this was the first time he had this much fun. Houtaru dragged him around everywhere and he found himself smiling. Everyone who walked by the two hardly recognized them- Houtaru because of her hair and Toshiro because he rarely smiled and laughed out in public.

The six friends waved as they saw Konohamaru and Hanabi sharing a drink along with the older fours sensei, Lee who was talking animatedly with Kiba; who had been on a year long ambassador mission to the Mist. He had returned home three times and all those times the blond was on a mission out of the village so he still hadn't seen her.

"Oi! Houtaru-san, Toshiro-san and my youthful team! Come over here and welcome home my dear friend Kiba-san and Akamaru-san!" the spandex clod man said motioning to Kiba and a giant white dog next to him.

Kiba stared as Akamaru barked and yelped with joy and ran over to the young blond who laughed and scratched his ears, causing the dog's tail to wag. Kiba, like everyone else who knew the hyperactive blond boy, just stared at the Naruto look-alike but was brought out of his gawking by Lee.

"Ah! You have noticed it as well, Kiba-san. Young Houtaru-san does look a lot like Naruto-san. She is even quite powerful and the flames of youth burn brightly in her eyes!" Lee said with tears in his eyes.

"Lee…" but Kiba trailed off. How was he supposed to voice what he was thinking? That the girl not only looked like Naruto, but _smelled_ like Naruto as well? But there was something else as well; it was Naruto's warm, spicy smell mixed in with a more calm sweeter smell that was just as familiar.

"Have you also noticed, my youthful friend, about another part of her features? Neji-san says it reminds him of Hinata-chan!" Lee went on to say. Kiba eyes widened. The smell was familiar! It was Hinata's! He had to get this information to the Hogake right away but he figured now wasn't the right time considering the Hokage was sitting with Jeraiya having a drinking contest.

"It's nice to meet you Houtaru-chan." Kiba smiled, showing his sharpened canines.

"And you, Kiba-san." Houtaru said returning the smile with one of her warm ones.

Houtaru asked Kiba a few questions about Akamaru and the peaceful moment was interrupter by a high nasally voice.

"Oh, Toshiro-kun! How do you like my kimono?!" The six friends turned to see Airi. Toshiro couldn't help but look at Airi's kimono to see exactly _what_ she was wearing. He regretted it thought it was rather….surprising. Surprising because it was the length of an actual formal kimono, and the regret part was because…it hurt his eyes. It would have been beautiful. It was a picture of a field of lavender and grass and the sky was orange, however Airi had had it done in bright, obnoxious neon colors. **(Like the post-it notes!) **

Her face was covered in way to much make-up and her eyes were painted a bright orange color. Houtaru wanted to laugh, her father would have been ashamed at how his favorite color had been put to shame, but didn't because she could feel anger and something else forming in the pit of her stomach.

"Don't call me that." Toshiro said, ignoring her question. In all the months of teamwork they had gone through, Airi still annoyed Toshiro to no end. She just couldn't take a hint! He. Did. **Not.** Like. Her! How hard was that to understand?!

Airi giggled, it was meant to be cute but it sounded really creepy "I know your lost for words, but that's ok! Why don't you take me over to that stand over there and you can buy us some sweets to share?"

A vain twitched in Toshiro's head. "Airi, one- I don't like sweets, and two- I don't like you." He said through clenched teeth.

"But I don't have a date and me and you would be perfect together." Airi squealed.

"Actually, Houtaru-chan's my date tonight." Toshiro said smugly putting extra emphasis on the 'chan'. Airi blanched. She had always been a bit scared of the younger girl.

Airi 'hmphed' and turned to appraise Houtaru who she had been ignoring until now. She didn't notice the fact that Houtaru was shaking a bit and her eyes were shut tight. Houtaru couldn't help but feel a bit angry at Airi for asking Toshiro to be her date when it was obvious he didn't want anything to do with the other girl. Houtaru told herself that it was because Airi was bugging Toshiro but that didn't explain why she was getting so angry.

Airi smirked "You do realize the only reason Toshiro-kun here is here with you is because he feels sorry for you? Poor, little Houtaru, all alone with no one in this world because her stupid family died. It was probably your fault in the first place; if you had been there they probably wouldn't have died." She was trying to push Houtaru's buttons.

Airi shuddered in fear as something was propelled at her- killer intent. She turned to see Toshiro with he sharingan blazing. The insult hadn't hurt Houtaru for little did everyone know the event hadn't actually happened, but the insult had made Toshiro want to rip her mouth off of her face.

Then another killer intent joined the first one- this one made Airi move away from the pair. This one was demonic and Airi looked up to see a pair of obsidian eyes with golden slits and she turned and ran.

Toshiro was still fuming, however he felt smug at the thought he had protected Houtaru.

"Arigato, Toshiro-kun." He turned to see Houtaru smiling at him warmly.

Houtaru held out her hand which Toshiro took and she pulled him along through the crowd do catch up with their friends. She hoped no one had seen her eyes change color. The Bijuu had told her whenever her emotions got too strong they would change colors and that this happened to her father as well. However this didn't help her case of keeping a low profile, which she wasn't doing a very good job of to begin with.

"Hey you guys. Sorry we didn't stick around to help you deal with the slut but her outfit was making our eyes hurt." Shika said as she waved a stick of dango in the air. Toshiro blanched as he saw the sweet food.

"Come on Toshiro-kun, lighten up. If you smile I'll buy you some tomatoes." Houtaru said in a mocking voice but she was totally serious. Toshiro huffed "Fine."

After another hour of games, snacks, laughing and Houtaru deciding to be a smart ass and demanding tomato flavored dango - which she failed to get because Toshiro dragged her away because she was making a scene - the sun set and it time for the firefly show.

"Come on guys! I know where we need to go!" Houtaru said like while jumping around like a kid on too much sugar.

"What are you talking about Houtaru-san? Everyone else is going over there." Yoshio said motioning to the wide field where the crown was gathering to watch the fireflies.

"Yoshio-san, what's my name mean?" Houtaru said crossing her arms.

"Well…it means firefly…" Yoshiro said hesitantly.

"Exactly. So you just need to trust me on this one." Houtaru claimed and walked off into the woods. The others all looked at Toshiro, as if he would hold all the answers, and he just shrugged before following the blond. He didn't quite understand her logic but he wasn't about to question it, if she told him to fallow her as she jumped off a cliff he would probably do it…actually he had once before.

The five friends followed the form of the blond through a group of trees into a perfectly round field of green grass with a few big boulders in the middle, on which Houtaru stood silently with her eyes closed and she looked like the statue of an angle- or so Toshiro thought.

"Houtaru-chan, what are you…"

"SHHH!!" Houtaru shhed, cutting of Kenta. She kept her eyes closed and motioned for them to come over to the boulder she was standing on. Her friends didn't question her and they just went over and stood next to Houtaru.

"What are you doing, Houtaru-chan?" Toshiro said in a kind, quite voice. Houtaru still didn't open her eyes but responded in the same voice. "Just watch."

The other four were stunned. They knew the two were close, but hearing the Uchiha talk to anyone like that was surprising. They had grown up with him and had never heard him talk to anyone like that. Both Shika and Michi smirked at hearing Toshiro call someone 'chan' in such an endearing manner.

'_Just friends. Yea just like Airi is "not that bad"'_ Shika thought.

Houtaru put her hands out in front of her and made a cup with her hands. She breathed out and as she breathed back in a sphere of golden light appeared in her hands. It was mesmerizing and a small smile appeared on Houtaru's face as she felt the strange warmth the sphere emitted along with a sound. The sound was light and smooth and it seemed to draw the friends to it.

Toshiro blushed as he looked at he friend. The light illuminated her face in a way that made her look as if she was glowing. Her golden hair framed her soft face and she looked totally angelic to the raven. He didn't know why he was blushing. He had always thought she was beautiful, so why was it starting to feel awkward?

All of a sudden the field around them started glowing with hundreds of little lights and Houtaru threw up her hands and the sphere burst into a mini-burst of sparkles and she laughed and twirled in an imaginary dance with the lights.

She grabbed Toshiro hands and started to spin with him and after a minute he joined her in her laughter and threw his head back and laughed. The other friends were all doing the same and dancing to some imaginary music.

Houtaru spun away from Toshiro, and he watched her hair swing around her like a veil, and the three girls linked their arms together and whipped around together before falling over laughing. A little firefly landed on Houtaru's nose and she laughed as it tickled her. She hopped up and started randomly jumping in the air and catching the little lights and releasing them into the air.

The friends chased each other and laughed and caught fireflies and releasing them and falling and just having fun.

Toshiro's eyes stayed glued on Houtaru the entire time. She blushed once when she caught him staring before she twirled around again. This time Toshiro noticed something on the neck of her kimono as her hair swirled out of the way. He stiffened as he saw it: among the golden lights in the black silk there was a flaming, golden sphere. It was the same symbol….

:Flash:Back: 

"Oi! Teme!" Houtaru yelled into the living room where Toshiro was reading a training scroll Houtaru had given him to study on a new fire jutsu. 

"What?! I'm trying to read!" He shot back. 

"Go up into my room and look in my green backpack for a small bag of orangey purple leaves. I need them for dinner tonight and I can't leave this sauce without it sticking." Houtaru said and headed back into the kitchen. 

"Why don't you just send one of you Kage Bunshin to go get it!" Toshiro yelled but headed for the stairs anyways. 

"Just shut up and stop whining. Consider it training!" Houtaru yelled through the walls and Toshiro grumbled and went to Houtaru's room. They still both called the room next to Toshiro's room 'Houtaru's room' even though she slept in Toshiro's room because she kept all her things in there. 

'_Why can't she just go get it herself? I don't care how good the food's probably going to be! She's just being lazy! What kind of color is 'orangey purple' anyways!?'_

He opened the door and walked in and found the bag and opened it up. He dug through it before he found the bag and found that indeed the plant was an orangey purple color. It wasn't brown so it seemed the only way to describe it was indeed orangey purple. He stood up and wondered exactly what Houtaru put in their food every night. He was sure if she wanted to poison him and his father she easily could. 

He stood up and heard a crash from down stair which made him jump and trip and knock over the bag- spilling the contents out on the floor. He hopped back up, ready to run downstairs and help when he head and "I'm OK!" come from his friend. 

"Dobe." He mumbled. 

"Shut up, Teme!" Houtaru yelled back making Toshiro jumped. He almost forgot about the fact that she had heightened senses – a fact that she had shared with him a few weeks before. 

He sighed before looking at the spilt bags of different colored plants, scrolls and even some expensive looking felt bags that were sealed together at the top with strings. He bent down and began picking up the contents, not really looking at what he was picking up. 

Then his fingers brushed over something cold and metal and it surprised him so he dropped it on the floor. He looked down to see a hitate on the ground but he had dropped it so the metal plate had landed face down. 

He looked at it and looked and became confused. This wasn't Houtaru's hitate. The cloth on this one was longer and black. It looked more like something Houtaru would wear compared to the short blue one she wore on her forehead now. He bent down and picked it up slowly and turned it to reveal a jagged looking spiral that appeared to be in flames. 

He traced his finger over the jagged spiral. It wasn't a symbol he had seen before but he couldn't deny the fact that this was a hitate and not a Konoha hitate. 

"Toshiro! Get your butt back down here and give me the bag before I burn dinner. If you make me ruin dinner I will buy ramen and then force feed you dango until you like it!" Houtaru yelled. 

Toshiro panicked and quickly stuffed the hitate and all the other items in the back and ran back into the kitchen. He made the decision not to ask Houtaru about it. Even though she hadn't answers all of his questions yet he didn't doubt her. She was going to tell him eventually and he needed her to trust him in her own time. 

:End:

"Toshiro-kun?" he was knocked out of his memory by Houtaru's soft voice. He turned to see her looking at him questioningly.

"I'm fine." He said and when she raised a perfect blond eyebrow at him he put his hands on her waist and lifted her up in the air and spun her around earning a squeal of laughter.

He sat her down and she playfully punched her in the arm. "Hey!"

"I'm not a three year old!" Houtaru said playfully and then backed up her statement by sticking her tongue out at him.

A firefly landed on the obsidian firefly comb and Toshiro laughed. Houtaru smiled at him and took his hands and spun them around again as they joined their friends in laughter.

_**Onigakure: **_

Naruto smiled as he watched Takeru and Nozomi twirl and laugh in the field of fireflies. He down rite laughed as he watched Gaara glare at his son.

"Don't worry Gaara; I'm sure Takeru won't hurt her. He still faints when she smiles at him so it should take sometime before he actually asks her out at all." Naruto laughed and Gaara turned to glare at his friend.

"Fine, but when he does I have all rights to threaten his life." Gaara seethed.

Naruto laughed again "Please do! And do me a favor? Catch it on tape while you're at it. I can use it as blackmail." earning him a playful slap over the head by Hinata.

"Onigake-sama!" a cute little girl with short brown hair pulled back in two little puffs on the back of her head.

Naruto bent down to the little four(and a three quarters)-year-old and smiled. She was the daughter of one of his top jounin but that's not the reason he was nice to her, even thought he was nice to everyone, He was nice to her because Houtaru had been considering her as a future apprentice. The girl's mother had 3/4ths tiger-demon blood and the girl herself had inherited her mother's tigress DNA.

"Why, hello Tora-chan! How are you tonight?" Naruto said while ruffling the girl's hair and being met with a pair of innocent yellow eyes.

"I'm 'k. Where's Taru-hime? I thought she was upposed to be backs by now?" she said using Houtaru's pet name around the village.

"No, actually she's not supposed to be back for…." Naruto trailed off. That's right. The twin's birthday was in two weeks. "Actaully, she's going to be back real soon. Is that ok?"

Tora nodded and skipped away yelling to all of her friends that were waiting for her "Taru-hime's coming backs soon! Onikage-sama said so! Yay!" she cheered and the little girls cheered as well and then went to buy some more sparklers (Houtaru had taught them how to use the sparklers last year to harass their parents.)

"So, how are you going to do this?" Hinata asked her husband.

Naruto smirked. He was just as aware the other countries stress toward Oni as they were. He was also aware that Konoha hadn't taken a side yet.

"I'm going to allow Lady Tsunade to make the choice to become our allies or not." Naruto said simply, leaving both Gaara and Hinata stunned. After all these years he was still the number one must unpredictable ninja in the world.

**Ok…so like I said before that was kind of a filler chapter but it was long! **

**Tora – Tiger. And yes she was supposed to talk like that. **

**If you have any questions I'll answer them! **

**There are going to be two parts to this story. The first part only has two more chapters so YAY! It means I'm being productive! **

**Review!...Pwease! I'll give you Kyuubi holds up little chibi version of Kyuubi **


	12. Chapter 12

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**Blood Zephyr: Yup! **

**Estel: That scene is going to be awesome! Trust me when I say everyone's going to flip! But you're probably going to hate me for this but I'll let you onto a secret and you're probably going to hate me for this but you'll find out in this chapter anyways: Naruto doesn't go to Konoha to get her. But the scene where he does come back is going to be BIG! Thanks for your review! And I made sure to get this out before Saturday just for you! .  
**

**RavanLah:…..you got to be kidding me….I knew I was a bad speller but I literally slapped myself in the head when you told me I've been spelling my main characters name wrong. Thanks! **

**SakuraKissy: I actually think you're the only one who's noticed. Or other people have noticed just not said anything. And if you were wondering, the part I had in the last chapter wasn't the scene that Gaara scares the crap out of Takeru (Houtaru's brother) .**

**XelaKitsune: Awww! Thank's so much! .**

**Thank Y'all for all your review.**

**LONG CHAPTER(again)! **

Tsunade looked over the twelve genin standing in front of her with appraising eyes. She then turned and looked around her at the stadium she was in. It was the stadium that had the chunin exams had been held at for as long as anyone could remember. All the genin in front of her were Konoha citizens and they were the only participants in the chunin exams this time.

Her eyes rested on Houtaru. The young girl was staring at her with such an intense gaze she felt her own falter for a second in fear. Did the girl know what they had done?

:Flash:Back:

"I've called you all here because it's been over a year since our last Chunin Exam. The other nations show no signs of wanting to travel any time soon so having a full-out chunin exam with three parts would take to long and isn't on the agenda right now because there is an obvious war brewing. We need to promote more Chunin so I've decided to hold a makeshift exam – a tournament of sorts. It's simply going to test the genins on their ability of teamwork but your full team doesn't have to participate." Tsunade said to the entire Jounin population of Konoha. When no one asked any questions she continued. "How many of you think your teams would be could candidates for the tournament?" 

"My team would gladly participate in this most youthful even, Tsunade-sama!" Lee yelled, obviously exited. 

"I believe mine would also." A random jounin said as well. 

"And two of my team would be good candidates. The third recently sustained a brutal injury and is in the hospital for extensive care." Another spoke up. 

"That's fine. Any one else?" Tsunade look around the room.

"Tsunade-sama." A aged voice said. Tsunade looked to the back of the room and saw a council member standing there. Tsunade balled up her fist. This man was one of the people who were on the council that had banished Naruto. They had been suspended but they were now part of the group of villagers who still wanted Naruto gone and who didn't support the fact that Konoha didn't align with the other countries to attack Oni. 

"What do you want?" Tsunade demanded in a cold, impatient voice at which the old man smirked at. 

"The people in our part of town demand that Haruno-san's daughter be a participant in this tournament as well as the young Uchiha." 

Then Tsunade smirked. "You do realize that if they participate, Houtaru-san participates as well." At this the council member tensed. 

"That's a wonderful idea Tsunade-sama. I'm sure my team would love to take place in this tournament. Oh and sorry I'm late, a little old lady needed my help with-

"Save it Konohamaru. But as long as you're here." Tsunade said. 

"Anyone else? No? Well then we have our chunin exams for now. They will be held in five days at the usual chunin arena. Dismissed."

Tsunade started to pick up all her papers and got ready to leave when she looked around the room and noticed not everyone had left. 

"What is it, Kiba-san?" 

"Can I talk to you in private?" Kiba asked and Tsunade nodded and soon they were back in Tsunade's office Tsunade sat down beside her desk.

"What is it?" 

"I'm here to talk to you about the girl." 

"Ah yes, I hear you met her last night at the festival." Tsunade said. She knew this was coming. Almost everyone had come to her to talk after they saw the girl. She didn't think this would be any different "I'm sure you noticed how much she looked like Naruto-  


"That's not what I'm here for." Kiba said, surprising the Hokage who went quite and motioned for him to continue "She doesn't just look like Naruto but she also _smells_ like Naruto. It's his sent mixed in with someone else's and I think it may be Hinata's. There's no mistaking it. Tsunade-sama…" 

Tsunade's eyes widened, she had forgotten Kiba's sense smell. So does that mean that… "So your saying that…." She gulped "she's…..Naruto's….child?" she whispered out. 

Kiba nodded. "And from her smell I would think that Hinata's her mother."

Tsunade sat, her eyes were wide and her breathing had all but stopped. After a few minutes of silence she finally spoke again. "Bring me Yamanaka Ino and get Sasuke as well. Now!" 

Fifteen minutes later Ino, Kiba, Jeraiya and Tsunade were standing together in Sasuke's house with the Uchiha. 

"So, let me get this straight." Sasuke said while rubbing his temples. "Ino is going to go into Houtaru's mind and look through it to see if she can find out where she came from?" 

Ino nodded and Sasuke seemed to get pissed "So, your telling me we could have done this to begin with and didn't?!" he said with a glare. 

Tsunade sighed "Yes, we could have. But we didn't have reason to believe she was his child. Yes she does look, act and fight like him but that wasn't enough proof to fully justify this. Kiba's nose identified both Naruto's _and_ Hinata's scent and that's proof enough to justify most anything."

Sasuke sighed. "Ok. Are you sure you want to do this while she's sleeping?"

This time it was Ino who answered. "Yes. Her mind is the most vulnerable when she sleeps and it should give me easy access to her memories." 

"Ok then. Fallow me." Sasuke led the way up the stairs and to the door that led into Toshiro's room. 

Ino, who had been at the Uchiha residence before, looked confused. "I thought this was Toshiro's room." 

"It is. You'll see but remember to be quite. It's impossible to sneak up on Houtaru. She's a light sleeper and even if she wasn't awake she still has good subconscious reflex. She flipped me over once when I came in there to wake them up. She wasn't even awake then so be careful. And watch out for Kyu-chan." Sasuke explained but Jeraiya's hand shot out to stop him. 

"Kyu-chan….do you think that could be…." He trailed off and looked at Tsunade whose eyes widened in realization. 

"I don't know anymore. What we find out tonight will mean everything." She said in a whisper. 

They walked in the room and Ino almost let out a girlish squeak at how cute it was. Even with all the space on Toshiro's large bed, the two kids were curled up together in the middle of the bed. Toshiro's arms were protectively around Houtaru and his chin was resting on her head. Houtaru's head was in the crook of Toshiro's neck and her arms were wrapped in a possessive way around his stomach. 

Sasuke walked forward a bit and stood by the window. Ino looked over the two "Do you think we could get the two of them unattached from one another? It would be easier to concentrate on Houtaru if they weren't so close." She whispered.

Sasuke held up his hands "I'm not touching them. Tried it before and didn't turn out so well." He whispered back frantically.

"For the love of Kami! I'll do it!" Jeraiya whispered back. He walked over to side of the bed and reached out to separate the two but his hand was caught. He froze as Houtaru sat straight up and growled at him – sufficiently scaring him. He breathed out when he noticed her eyes were still closed and relaxed until she released his hand and laid back down in Toshiro's arms that had subconsciously been held out and waiting for her to return. 

He turned back to see a smirking Sasuke "Got any more bright ideas?" the Uchiha asked with a smirk. None of them noticed that Kyuubi had awoken when the girl sat up and had left the room. If they were paying attention at all they would had heard the sound of a 'poof' come from the other room.

Jeraiya ignored him and turned to Ino "I think you'll just have to work with this." 

"Just focus on Houtaru's massive chakra levels." Sasuke suggested. 

Ino nodded and made the seals and entered Houtaru's mind. 

Ino opened her eyes. She was in a tunnel and gasped at its beauty. The walls seemed to be made of the purest obsidian and little orbs of light were floating everywhere lighting up the tunnel. 

She saw something move up ahead of her. She turned to see half of the face of a girl peaking from around the corner. She couldn't concentrate on the girls face as she saw a piercing black eye with golden slit down the middle staring angrily at her.

Then the face disappeared from around the corner in a flash of black streaked golden hair and all the orbs of light suddenly went out. 

Ino suddenly felt scared. She didn't know why, it was impossible to be hurt in someone's mindset….at least….she thought it was. 

She froze again as she heard low growls coming from beyond the corner the eyes disappeared behind. She didn't have time to run as a crimson tail shot out from behind the corner and wrapped around her waist and she screamed as it lifted her up and dragged her unceremoniously beyond the corner and dangled her in front of the feral face of Kyuubi. 

"**Well, well, well! Look what we have here! A Yamanaka in the flesh! Looks like they've sunken lower than I thought they would." **The giant fox let out a dark laugh and dropped the blond who screamed but was caught by another tail. She thought she was safe until she came face to face with a giant, angry-looking, purple cat. 

"**Now, now Kyuubi be nice to the little human. If I recall correctly, our Little Firefly hasn't said anything negative about them. On the contrary, she mentioned a young boy who she had befriended. So let us just try to be nice. However…"** purple eyes snapped back to Ino, who was still frozen in fear **"what do you think give you the right to come into my kitten's mind without her permission?"** she hissed out. 

"I-I-…." Ino tried but she couldn't say anything. 

"**What is it? Cat got your tongue?"** the giant cat laughed and dropped Ino again and this time she landed on the ground with a thud. It hurt. It hurt a lot but being a ninja she had felt worse. 

She got up and tried to back away from the two looming figures but ended up looking around and screaming when she noticed seven other pairs of demonic eyes staring down at her. 

"Bi-bijuu…." Ino gasped out in fear. 

A booming laugh came from behind her **"Looks like she's smarter than we thought! So what are we going to do with her? Kill her or just torture her until she forgets?" **

Ino froze again and started hyperventilating. "That's enough Shukaku." Ino looked up to see Houtaru, except this girl was different. She was beautiful! Her flowing golden hair was streaked with ebony and every one of her features was straight and perfect but still soft. However she had an air of demonic power around her. She had razor sharp nails and pointed canine teeth as well as three whisker marks on either one of her cheeks. She wore a golden robe that was licked with black flames along the bottom and she reminded Ino of a young goddess. 

"Ho-Houtaru?" Ino managed. She gasped again when the girl looked at her to reveal the same black eyes with golden slits for pupils that she had seen earlier. 

The girl gave her a gentle perfect smile and came to kneel in front of her. "I'm sorry Ino-san but I have to make sure you don't remember any of this and you don't wake up to tell anyone." Ino tried to find her voice to ask what she meant but was silenced when Houtaru placed a clawed hand on her forehead. 

"I'm sorry but you shouldn't have come here." Houtaru said before a blinding pain filled Ino head and everything went black. 

Ino's body slumped to the ground and Tsunade ran over to her side. "She unconscious but all her vitals seem fine." Tsunade immediately said out of habit but noticed that Jeraiya and Sasuke were shooting her questioning looks while Kiba had come over to check on his friend. 

"What happened?" Kiba questioned.

Tsunade shook her head "All I know is that she should still be conscious." Toshiro started to stir and Sasuke looked at them in alarm. 

"We need to get out of here before he wakes up." 

Tsunade nodded and they carried Ino out the door. 

:End:

Ino still hadn't woken up and that was five days ago. They had tried everything to wake her up but nothing appeared to be wrong with her; it was as if she should be awake but she just couldn't wake up.

"Tsunade-sama, are you ready to begin?" Shizune asked and the Hokage nodded her head.

"Ok kids, here's how it's going to work and I'm only going to explain this once so listen up! This tournament is to test your teamwork skills, more specifically how you can work with people on demand with no prior prepping. With me so far?" everyone nodded "There are twelve of you so I'm going to randomly draw names and pair you up into six teams of two. There are going to be three tag-team battles. There are going to be three teams of winners and one of the teams is going to be divided and one person will join one of the other teams and the other person will join the other team. We will then have a three on three battle. After that the three on the winning team will fight each other and the last one standing will be the winner." Everyone nodded again they didn't all get it but they weren't going to ask questions. "Now it doesn't matter if you win or lose. It matters how well you work with your teammate. Since there aren't many of you there's a good chance someone will be paired with another member of their team."

Houtaru looked around again at the other genin there. Her team and Lee's team were both there along with another team that had graduated with them. She waved at Miri and the girl smiled in return **(Remember? During the genin exams she fought Airi and Houtaru healed her because Airi's a cheating bitch?) **Miri's team also had another boy, named Taki, and girl named Etsu. There were also two twin brothers from another team there as well but Houtaru had heard their third team mate had been injured. Their names were Jiro and Taro.

Houtaru directed her attention back to the hokage. Yes, she knew what they had tried to do and Ino was lucky Houtaru had been there. The Bijuu would have killed her if the princess hadn't been there to stop them. She was also worried. This meant that they had enough information to say she was Naruto's daughter. Houtaru had realized it was probably because of Kiba, she hadn't been aware that the Inuzaka had returned home and hadn't had time to mask her smell. However she knew she was off the hook for a little while. As long as Ino was unconscious they couldn't do anything else. Except maybe let Ibisu have her and try to pry the information from her but that wouldn't have worked in the first place.

"Here are the teams for the first round." Tsunade said. She drew the first to names from the pile. "The first round is Yoshio and Michi verses" the two teens smirked. Out of their team Yoshio and Michi always paired up together on missions while Shika and Kenta paired up as well. This would be extremely easy for them…as long as the team they were facing wasn't Houtaru and Toshiro. Everyone there knew if they had to go against the two they would lose…very quickly. "Miri…" both the bug user and Hyuuga relaxed at this "and Houtaru." ….and the relaxing was over.

Houtaru smiled at Miri who returned it with an unsure smile. Miri was still very insecure but a very good fighter. **(I realize this sounds like Hinata but that wasn't my idea it's just how it turned out.)**

Michi and Yoshiro were a bit unsure themselves but they still had confidence. They had never heard of Houtaru fighting with out Toshiro and had never seen the blonde's skills in combat. They also knew that their teamwork was some of the best out there.

Toshiro gave Houtaru a quick smile and squeezed her hand in reassurance before joining the other genins who were heading up to a box reserved for them.

Houtaru walked over to Miri and smiled. "We have five minutes to explain each others skills so lets get started."

Miri tensed up a bit and they stood in silence for a minute while Houtaru waited for Miri to respond. "Umm…I never got to properly thank you for before."

"Don't mention it. Airi's a bitch and I have to be on a team with her for a year and believe me when I say she deserved it. Now, let's worry about our team work. Michi and Yoshio are on the same team and they have very good teamwork. So let's focus." Houtaru said with a determined look.

Miri nodded, a bit encouraged by Houtaru's tone of voice "I deal with….explosives." Miri said and got a devious glint in her eyes that Houtaru couldn't help but relate to. "All different types of explosives, not just explosive tags; those are too boring. I have all types of bombs: fire, water, stink, dirt, mud, flash, smoke…you name it, I got it."

"This is going to be fun." Houtaru said with a smile which Miri returned. "Ok, I know Michi is a Hyuuga, so you would think she uses close-range attacks but she doesn't, she's also a weapons specialist. Yoshio is a bug user from the Aburame clan. He told me his favorite bugs are ones that are very small and can suck chakra out of you, so be careful of him."

"So, what do you think we should do?" Miri questioned.

"Well, we have to back each other up and we have to make sure that they can't use all of their offenses, like if we could take out Michi's byakugan and Yoshio's bugs I could take care of the rest. My skills are using these things called 'chakra arms' and I also have a very vast store of chakra."

Miri thought it over and she looked at Houtaru with a gleam in her eyes. "I think I've got an idea."

"Ok! Come to the center of the field and let's begin." Tsunade called and the jounin in the stands clapped. It wasn't an open exam even though it was in the same stadium however most of the jounin came to watch.

The four kids walked into the middle of the ring and Houtaru smiled. "Good luck you two."

"And to you, Houtaru-san, Miri-san." Yoshio nodded back and Michi nodded as Tsunade raised her hand.

"The rules go as fallows: the battle goes until one or both of a team is unconscious/dead, they surrender or I say its over. Any style of attack is allowed, and there are no fouls. Now, go!" with that Tsunade jumped out of the ring and watched as Miri, Yoshio and Michi jumped back and prepared to fight. Michi pulled out a few scrolls, bugs swarmed around Yoshio's arms and Michi pulled out five small spheres that looked like they were made of metal.

Houtaru just stood there. She didn't even move. She just stood there.

Michi, who had just pulled a mace out of her scroll, saw it as a chance to attack. She twirled the mace and threw the mace at the blond haired girl, just to test out if how fast she could dodge. She didn't. She mace hit her full force in the head and she was knocked back at least seven meters.

Everyone gasped except for Toshiro who smirked. He had noticed that Michi had foolishly forgotten to activate her byakugan – big mistake. The clone then poofed away as it hit the ground.

Michi's eyes widened and she quickly activated her all seeing eyes. Her eyes widened- this time in fear. "YOSHIO! JUMP!"

Right as she did the ground exploded as about three hundred Houtaru jumped up out of it and each one of them held a small metal bomb in their hands and threw them onto the ground causing a giant flash of white light.

Michi screamed and immediately deactivated her sensitive eyes. As the flash ended everyone landed on the now broken ground. Miri and Houtaru in perfect condition, Yoshio was a bit surprised by the attack but his sunglasses helped to protect his eyes from the explosion. He turned and he almost showed emotion as he saw Michi holding her eyes.

"You ok?"

"No, that flash totally blinded my byakugan. I can't use it anymore." Michi said with a frown and sent a glare at the other team. That had been a good idea and Michi hated it. They had sufficiently taken out half of the two's attacks in one blow. They were hardly a minute into the fight!

"Miri, Michi's pissed. She's going to go on the offensive now. Get ready to dodge and get those smoke bombs ready." Houtaru whispered and Miri nodded.

All of a sudden Michi paled a bit and her eyes began to grow heavy. "Miri! Miri what's-

Houtaru stopped when she saw a bug crawl across her arm_. 'Crap! I should have known Yoshio wouldn't have wasted a moment to put bugs on us.'_ Houtaru scolded herself.

"Look Michi. It seems my bugs are taking affect." Yoshio commented as he looked at Miri.

Michi smirked; she still thought that this was going to be easy, even with her byakugan rendered useless. "You're right. But Yoshio, why didn't you put bugs on Houtaru?"

Yoshio's eyebrows raised slightly in surprise. "I did." Both ninja looked back to Houtaru and checked her over again. Besides looking worried for Miri she showed no signs that she had dozens of chakra-sucking insects on her or that she had just preformed a chakra depleting jutsu.

"Miri, you have lots of bugs on you. We need to get them off. Change in plans. You got the stink bombs?" Miri nodded her head with effort. "Good, now stay with me. As soon as the bomb goes off I'll give you some of my chakra and we'll go on the offensive again."

"Won't that hurt you?" Miri panted out. She was having issues staying conscious.

"I'll be fine." Houtaru reassured.

"Not for long you won't!" Michi yelled and got out a scroll out of her jacket. She unhooked the tie on the scroll and jumped up started spinning and hurling weapons and the two before they had time to blink.

Houtaru grabbed Miri under her arms and jumped up in the air and dodged the weapons. While she was in contact with Miri she started pouring purified chakra into the other girl's system, the chakra was blue and there fore she called it 'purified' – a trick she had learned from Yon-bi in the past year.

Houtaru looked to see Michi smirking and she knew why. There weren't many places she could land before being hit by the weapons onslaught. And she knew that Yoshio's bugs were down there to…well it was time to take care of that problem.

"You ok now?" Houtaru asked her partner as she jumped in the air again. Miri nodded. "Let's get this party started then."

Houtaru threw Miri off of her and the two jumped up again to avoid Michi's weapons. "Now!" Houtaru yelled and Miri threw down eight bombs and a giant cloud of smoke appeared.

When the smoke cleared Michi looked around to find she was in a compromising position. She had been able to take cover behind a boulder and was sure that Yoshio's bugs would protect him but when she looked around the field she found that she was mistaken. Yoshio was currently suspended in mid-air by a giant 'arm' of black chakra that was wrapped around him like a snake from Houtaru who was standing a bit of the way off. Miri had a couple other bombs in her hand.

"Yoshio! What are you doing!? The arm is chakra! Use your bugs!" Michi yelled desperately as she saw Yoshio struggling.

"I…I…" Yoshio tried to answer but the arm constricted around him more and he couldn't answer.

"He can't do that Michi." Houtaru shouted over to her "Four of the bombs Miri had were stink bombs. You can't smell them but they paralyzed the bugs. And he couldn't kawami out of that hold if he tried. My 'arms' are made of chakra and I've attached it to his network. He can't move." The blond girl smirk and Michi gasped realizing what she had done.

Houtaru had put Michi in a no win situation. She could either attack Houtaru and risk being put in the same situation Yoshio was in or she could surrender. She looked back at Yoshio. There was no way he could get out of there. Houtaru was too good and it was only a matter of time before she caught either one of them again. She had to give it to the blonde, and Miri. They had taken out Michi's and Yoshio's offences one by one, leaving them with no offences either.

Michi raised her hand. "We give up."

"Winners: Miri and Houtaru." Tsunade yelled and the people there clapped while Houtaru lowered Yoshio onto the ground next to Michi who hugged him.

"I can't believe they actually beat Yoshio and Michi." Kenta mauled over and Shika just shrugged. She looked over at Toshiro who was smirking.

"You weren't worried at all were you?" the fan user asked the smirking Uchiha.

"Nope." He responded never taking his eyes off the blonde.

"You ok?" Michi asked with worried eyes.

"I'm fine. Just a bit breathless and my bugs are all unconscious." Yoshio sighed shaking his head looking back at the two girls who were high-fiving.

All four walked to the center of the ring a shook hands.

"Good match, guys." Houtaru said with a smile. It wasn't a bragging smile, it was a kind smile. Michi shook her hand. "Well played, Houtaru. You too Miri." Yoshio nodded.

"You want me to take a look at your eyes?" Houtaru asked Michi who shook her head. "Save your energy."

"Ok, next battle!" Tsunade said. "The first team is Taro and Jiro." The two in question exchanged a highfive. It was obvious they were twins and probably had perfectly synchronized attacks.

Houtaru eyes the pair and noticed they both had kantanas strapped to their backs. She hadn't heard of these two but by their names she was guessing Taro was the first born. **(The names literally mean first born male and second born)  
**

"Verses: Uchiha Toshiro and Haruno Airi." Airi squealed and Toshiro wanted to die in a hole. Houtaru smirked; this would be entertaining.

The two brother jumped down from the balcony and one landed on the ground and the other jumped of his back in a summersault before landing on the ground. Houtaru's suspicions were confirmed: they were in perfect sync.

"Come on Toshiro-kun! Let's walk down together!" Airi squealed and Toshiro just glared at her. She pouted "Here Toshiro, watch what I can do!" and she proceeded to walk down the wall and turned when she reached the ground "See!" but Toshiro had already started to walk down the stairs.

"Good job, Houtaru-chan." Toshiro said as he passed them in the stairwell. Miri turned to wait for Houtaru but Michi grabbed her and pulled her up the stairs.

"And good luck to you Toshiro-kun." Houtaru said but scowled when she saw Toshiro smirk. "What are you smirking at?"

Toshiro leaned in so he could whisper in her ear. "Which was harder? The battle or having to hold back in that battle? Ne, Houtaru-chan?"

Houtaru smirked "You know me all to well, Toshiro-kun." Toshiro felt a shiver run down his spine at the way she said his name. They had both started to call each other 'chan' and 'kun' in public after the festival but Toshiro couldn't get over how she said his name.

"Do you remember your kantana trailing?" Houtaru questioned, getting an authoritative look in her eyes. Toshiro nodded. "Good, then you're going to need a kantana." Houtaru opened up her pack and pulled out a scroll before biting her thumb and making a streak across a kanji.

A kantana made of dark steel appeared in her hands. It was nothing special but Toshiro could vaguely make out the kanji for fire on the hilt. "It's not one of my better swords but it's the only one that you can use with your new fire jutsus and not attract attention." Houtaru explained.

"Do you remember that new jutsu I taught you?" Houtaru asked again and again Toshiro nodded. "Do you remember when I had you channeling chakra to your hand to burn the tree trunk?" Again Toshiro nodded. "Do you think you could combine them and the channel it through the sword?"

Toshiro froze. Could he do that? "I-I don't know." Toshiro stuttered. This was the only time he could feel unsure about himself: when he and Houtaru were training. This couldn't qualify as training but it felt like it.

"Well that makes one of us who doesn't know." Toshiro looked up to see Houtaru beaming at him. "Go kick there asses." Houtaru said and went to punch him in the arm. The raven closed his eyes and flinched out of reflex but the impact never came. In stead he felt something warm and soft on his cheek and then heard Houtaru whisper "Good luck, Toshiro-kun." When he opened his eyes Houtaru was gone.

He walked out onto the field and stood next to Airi and ignored her as she prattled on and on about nothing. He was more concentrated on something else: the warm tingly feeling on his cheek. His hand automatically shot up and touched the spot on his face where her lips had touched.

"Come shake hands." Tsunade's voice rang out and Toshiro shook his head. He hadn't even noticed the five minutes were up. Toshiro stepped forward and he noticed he had a spring in his step that hadn't been there before.

Toshiro's eyes wondered the stadium. He saw his father sitting there with an eyebrow arched as he studied Toshiro. Toshiro fallowed his father's eyes and saw them on his sword. He was probably wondering where Toshiro had gotten it. Toshiro also turned a bit and was met by a pair of sapphires with pearls in the center and he smiled at his best friend.

He shook hands with both the brothers, something Airi refused to do, and took positions. "You know the rules. Go!"

The two brothers immediately jumped back before each pulling out their swords and launching into a series of combination attack onto the other team. Toshiro, with his sharingan, easily pulled Airi out of the way when she screamed and dropped her a few meters back.

"Airi, can you create a distraction?" Toshiro asked. Airi nodded, she may have been self-centered but she did still know how to fight.

She drew three kunai from her pouch and quickly wrapped them in explosive tags and threw them at the approaching form of the two brothers.

Houtaru looked on with fascination. She was interested to know what her teammates would do if she wasn't there to help them. The time was coming soon. She could feel it. She felt someone staring at her and she looked up to see two black onyx eyes looking at her. Sasuke tilted his head to the side and Houtaru nodded. The two then disappeared from their seats.

During the explosion Toshiro had drawn some metal wire and two kunai. He figured he might as well start off with a little trick his father taught him. When the smoke cleared he saw the two boys back to back in the center of the field: ready to attack again. Perfect.

Toshiro jumped up into the air and threw the kunai at and angle and continued to run at an incredible speed around his two opponents before trapping them back to back in the wire, who apparently weren't expecting an attack. Toshiro landed on an elevated rock and mentally thanked Houtaru for changing the entire field-scape with her first attack. He breathed in and released a giant trail of flames from him mouth onto the wire.

Houtaru watched as the twins easily cut the wire with their swords and avoided the flame attack. She heard a sigh come from the man standing next to her "Don't worry, he didn't expect that to work. Well, maybe he did but that's not one of his more advanced attacks so he was probably just testing how sharp the swords were."

"So my suspicions were correct. You have been training my son." Sasuke said back in a stoic manner.

"I have." Houtaru answered back in the same tone.

"What have you been teaching him?" Sasuke said while steeling a glance at the girl from the corner of his eyes only to see her staring intently at his son.

"Some more advanced fire techniques, however it became clear to me a while ago that his first affinity is lighting. But I don't know many beginner lightning style techniques so I settled with fire. Also better chakra control and taught him how to use a kantana." Houtaru explained and Sasuke shook his head. He really didn't know what to think about that. He turned back to the fight to see Toshiro draw the steel sword and start to parry and slash against the two other swords that were coming at him in perfect synch with seeming ease.

Houtaru smirked as she saw the other two boys' surprise. They were told he was an Uchiha and should have known he could easily copy all their moves as well as see them before they attacked. "So I'm presuming that's your kantana?"

Houtaru nodded. "It is. If he decides to use a technique I've taught him recently, he can combine it with the sword."

"So since you're teaching Toshiro fire jutsus is your affinity fire?" Sasuke asked. If Houtaru's affinity was fire there was no way she could be Naruto and Hinata's kid.

What could Houtaru say? That she had all the affinities? "My affinity is chakra because of my bloodlimit." Houtaru settled with that because it was kinda true.

Sasuke watched with an impassive face as Airi circled the dueling trio and randomly threw kunai and shuriken at them. This would have worked well if her targets hadn't been able to deflect them with their swords and it wasn't a distraction because they would back up the others moves.

Toshiro finally saw this was going no where so he leaped out of the twins range and landed next to Airi. "I need you to distract them for me again. I have a technique that can win this for us but it's going to take some time."

Airi nodded "Anything Toshiro-kun! You're so cool!" she said and Toshiro felt like gagging and punching her – but that probably wouldn't be such a good idea at the moment. He didn't like for anyone to call him that except for Houtaru. Speaking of Houtaru he needed to find her. He still wasn't sure that he could do this and he needed her to reassure him one more time.

He looked up to the box where the genin were all supposed to be but his eyes fell when he didn't see her there. He looked around frantically and finally saw a flash of gold and he looked to see Houtaru standing next to his father. He wondered what they were talking about but that didn't matter because he was in a battle at the moment.

Crimson sharingan met sapphire and Toshiro felt conformation surge through him. He could do this. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his sword. _'Ok, do exactly as Houtaru-chan said. Concentrate on fire and build it. Then concentrate on the sword and push it out the sword and make it come out in the form you want.'_

Toshiro felt fire building in his chest but he focused on making more and more and then focused on his hand and his sword. He felt more and more of his chakra being turned into fire and knew if he was going to try this he only had one good shot. Houtaru felt a smile form on her lips. This battle was almost over.

He yelled to Airi to move "Fire Style: Grand Twin Dragon Barrage!" and he clutched his sword with both hands as two giant, flaming dragons burst from the sword and roared. They about five times bigger than Toshiro and they growled before charging the other two boys who tried to run but seemed to be swallowed by the giant dragons and screamed as they were harshly burned but not enough to cause any serious damage.

Sasuke stood shocked. He had no idea his son could do something like that. Tsunade leaped down to check the twins but announced them unable to battle further and announced Airi and Toshiro the winners.

Airi squealed and bowed while everyone clapped but Toshiro just stood still. The medic-nins took Jiro and Taro to the infirmary and Tsunade congratulated the winning team. But Toshiro still hadn't moved.

"We won Toshiro-kun, I knew we were a perfect team." She said winking and walked over to Toshiro - whose arms were limp at his sides and his face was angled downwards.

Houtaru sighed and Sasuke watched as she jumped down into the arena and walked over to Airi who was babbling to Toshiro who was still unresponsive.

"Move, Airi." Houtaru instructed. Airi huffed but moved anyways. Houtaru walked over to Toshiro and gently removed the sword from his hands. It poofed away and she gently tilted Toshiro head up and smiled gently at him when she saw his eyes were still open but half-lidded as if they were heavy. "Toshiro-kun?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Hmmmmmm?" he said groggily looking at her.

"You can pass out from chakra exhaustion now." Houtaru said with humor in her voice.

"Oh, thanks." Toshiro said before he collapsed in Houtaru's arms. She hoisted him onto her back just in time to see Tsunade running over to them.

"Is he ok?" She asked worriedly.

"He's fine. Just a bit of chakra depletion. He should be up and running again by the next time he has to fight." Houtaru assured her and the Hokage nodded.

"If he isn't up before the three on three fight than he's disqualified." Tsunade explained and Houtaru nodded and leaped back up into the box.

Tsunade looked up at Sasuke and he shook his head. He was supposed to have confronted Houtaru about what happened to Ino but he hadn't had the guts. He was still scared. He was scared that Naruto might be dead. Houtaru had said her parents her dead and even though she could be lying that would mean that Sasuke would have to face Naruto again and he was scared of that as well.

Houtaru landed and put Toshiro against the wall before turning to Shiki and Kenta "Good luck you two!"

"What do you mean?" Kenta asked.

"She means that we're next. There are only four people left so we obviously are about to fight." Shika said with a bit more enthusiasm than before. There were two things that could get Shika out of her 'lazy as hell' mood: parties and festivals of any type and fighting.

"Next battle: Shika and Kenta vs Etsu and Taki." Shika smirked. The other team was going down!

After everyone wished the others good luck Houtaru walked back over to Toshiro and sighed "Get off of him Airi." Houtaru said simply.

Airi glared at her and Houtaru, who didn't feel like arguing, glared back with her black and gold eyes. Airi moved really quickly after that and even made an excuse to go to the bathroom and left quickly.

Houtaru sat next to her friend and looked him over quickly. She glanced backwards to make sure everyone was paying attention to the match going on and then slowly activated her eyes. She was glad all Toshiro was suffering from was lack of chakra and she could easily take care of that.

"Houtaru?" the blond jumped a bit and hurriedly deactivated her eyes and turned to see Miri standing behind her.

"Hey Miri! Shouldn't you be watching your teammates fight?" Houtaru said and Miri shrugged.

"Nah. Do you mind if I sit?" the girl asked and Houtaru nodded and turned back to Toshiro.

"I wanted to thank you." Miri said in a small voice.

"For what?" Houtaru asked with a confused look.

"I know you said I didn't have to but I still want to thank you for a year ago. Airi was always so mean to me and I never could stand up to her. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't stopped her…" Miri said bowing her head in shame.

Houtaru smiled again "I'm sure if you and Airi ever fought again you could beat her easily. She's a good ninja but she's way to overconfident. You're a good fighter Miri, I'm sure Airi wouldn't know what happened to her."

Miri smiled an unsure smile but decided to drop in and turned back to Toshiro "Is he going to be ok?"

"He's going to be fine. I'm just going to transfer some of my chakra into him." Houtaru said. Miri's eyes widened "Won't that make you low on chakra?"

"No. I have a freakishly large chakra supply." Houtaru said before resting her forehead against Toshiro's. She sighed at how good his cool forehead felt against her warm one but quickly got back to the task at hand. She knew Toshiro needed a lot of chakra and the easiest place for her to channel and purify it was through her forehead. She felt purified chakra starting to leave her forehead and enter her friend's forehead.

Toshiro felt himself coming to and he also felt something warm on his forehead. He opened his eyes and was met by a pair of what appeared to be sapphires with pearls in the center. He reddened to a color of his favorite food when he realized Houtaru's face was so close to his but couldn't help but smile as he saw her beam.

"You're awake!" She said loudly and the events of the last few minutes rushed back to him.

"So when's the next fight?" He said automatically.

"You're welcome for waking you up and giving you my chakra because you were almost out after that last attack you did. No problem" Houtaru laughed as Toshiro scowled at her to cover up his embarrassment.

Houtaru stood up and helped Toshiro up. "The last tag-team battle is going on right now and then they're going to draw names to see which team is going to split up for the three on three fight. I wonder how Shika and Kenta are-

"The winners: Shika and Kenta!"

"Well that was quick." Houtaru commented and Toshiro chuckled "You know what this means don't you?" the blond asked and when Toshiro's face became confused she continued "this could mean me and you would have to fight."

Toshiro stiffened, he knew he was good but he knew Houtaru was better but he thought her could take her if she had to hold back…..no….he would probably get his ass kicked either way.

Houtaru smirked "Scared of a little competition? Don't worry I'll go easy on you."

Toshiro glared "I'd like to see you try, hn, Dobe."

"Teme. Let's see you back up that smirk." Houtaru shot.

"And now will the winners of the matches please come down so we can start the next round." Tsunade's voice rang out.

"Good luck." Yoshio told the pair.

"Yeah. Don't kick our teammate's butts to hard. We have to work with them." Michi said sending a knowing smirk at the two.

Houtaru smiled and Toshiro 'hn'ed. Airi and Miri started to head down the stairs. "Toshiro-kun! Walk with me down the stairs." Airi said with a 'seductive' smile towards Toshiro, who sent a 'please-help-me' glance at Houtaru.

Houtaru smirked "Sorry Airi but…" Houtaru trailed of and grabbed Toshiro's pale hand in her tan one "…I believe stairs are vastly overrated."

The blond, with Toshiro in tow, then leaped over the balcony and jumped the hundred plus feet down to the field. Houtaru landed on her feet with grace but Toshiro, who wasn't expecting to jump, landed on his back.

"Ow" he said and glared at Houtaru who shrugged "It was either that or Airi." Houtaru said before walking to where Tsunade was and congratulated Shika, who was looking smug at her quick victory, and Kenta.

When Airi and Miri joined them they each stood side by side according to the teams they were in during the last round. Houtaru couldn't help but release a few giggles as Toshiro fidgeted uncomfortably as Airi tried to get closer to him.

"So here's how it's going to work. I'm going to draw two names. Whose ever name's I draw first team will be a team that stays together. The second name I call will be on the same team as the first name I called and that person's teammate will fight with the team who wasn't called on. For example: if I pulled Kenta's name out of the hat and then Houtaru's name, Houtaru would fight with Kenta and Shika against Miri, Airi and Toshiro. Any questions?"

Tsunade waited for someone to answer the rhetorical question before continuing "The first name is…Houtaru." Miri let out a breath. She knew that if she had to fight against the blond she wouldn't have anymore confidence to fight Airi.

"The second name is….Toshiro." Tsunade said. Shika blanched and Kenta nearly choked while Airi was turning the color of her hair "THAT'S NOT FAIR! WHY DO THEY GET TO BE ON A TEAM TOGETHER! I WANT TOSHIRO-KUN ON _MY _TEAM!"

Tsuande scowled "It's just luck of the draw. And if you go against me again Haruno I'll have you locked in a cell for the night, am I understood."

"Y-yes, Hokage-sama." Airi said.

"Now you have five minutes to prep starting now."

"So what's the plan? You two are the ones with the never beaten teamwork here." Miri said once they got far enough away from the other team.

"Well, your right when you say we have good team work" Toshiro scoffed at Houtaru's understatement, earning him a slap over the head "But Shika and Kenta have been working together a year longer than we have. I think that it would be best if Toshiro and I took on Kenta and Shika and Miri could keep Airi away."

"B-bu-but Houtaru! I can't fight Airi! I-i-…"Miri stuttered.

"Why not? Airi's just annoying and I can tell you could beat her any day. Just don't let her get to her head." Toshiro said in a cold voice.

Houtaru sighed "I would slap him but he has a point. The only real attack Airi has is the ability to insult people. You can do it Miri. Leave Shika and Kenta to me and Toshiro to us and you take on Miri. That's the only way this'll work."

Toshiro nodded his head in agreement "And might I recommend stink bombs or something that'll mess up her hair." He said causing both girls to giggle.

"Ok, times up. Come foreword and shake hands." Tsunade yelled and the five of the six teens came and shook hands. (Three guesses who didn't) "Round Two: Begin."

**(I could have stopped there or at the end of any of the other fights but I'm not that mean….well maybe I am…ok yea I am but I still won't end here)**

Shika immediately jumped into action; grabbing two of her fans she spun around and tried to slash at Houtaru who jumped back but the older girl didn't stop – she kept slashing and slashing with her razor sharp fans while Kenta sent an enlarged fist at Toshiro and Airi immediately drew a kunai on Miri. They had planned their opening strategy well: they weren't going to wait until Houtaru and Toshiro prepared an attack, they were going to attack immediately as well as separate the unbeatable duo before they had a chance to attack together.

Houtaru continued to easily dodge the fans with grace but couldn't manage the get out of the dangerous dance and got slashed a few times. She couldn't help but feel as if this would be so much easier if she didn't have to hold back but she didn't want to hurt her friend…to much.

Toshiro and Kenta were pretty much even: both boys had managed to score a few punches to the other and soon Kenta stopped his barrage and made a hand seal with his hands that Toshiro realized all to well: it was the Yamanaka's Mind Body Transfer Jutsu and he knew that all he had to do was move out of the way and he did.

Miri and Airi were having a close call kunai fight.

"You know, the only reason you made it this far is because of Houtaru. If it wasn't for her you would have been taken out a while ago." Airi said while smirking and managed to land a blow across Miri's arm.

Yes, Miri knew that was true but she already knew that so it didn't really get to her. Miri decided to play Airi's game for a second to distract her. "You know the only reason you managed to get this far is because of Toshiro?"

Airi smirked "Toshiro-kun loves me so he was protecting me. Houtaru probably just feels sorry for you." Miri froze for a minute but then she remembered Houtaru's kind words and eyes. There was no way Houtaru felt sorry for her.

"You know, I think you need a makeover." Miri said before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a sludge bomb and threw it at Airi. It exploded a vile green goop all over Airi's purple hair and it was also sticky so Airi was stuck to the ground. She yelled in anger as she tried to move but she just ended up getting more stuck.

"You know something else?" Miri asked the struggling form of Airi who froze to look at her with surprised eyes "I'm not scared of you anymore." Airi screamed one more time in anger.

Finally Houtaru managed to get away of Shika only to have a fan thrown at her and she bent back to dodge but when she went to move back up she couldn't. She cursed and looked over to see Shika in an identical position. When she Shika had thrown her fan she and attached her shadow to the fans and caught Houtaru in her jutsu. It wasn't that she couldn't get out of the technique, she could. It was that it would look weird for a genin to break out of a Shadow Bind as if the technique had never been cast.

"Kenta now!" Shika shouted and Toshiro watched in horror as Kenta directed his jutsu at a bound Houtaru. _'Move Houtaru-chan, I know you can! Move!'_

Shika smirked as Houtaru's body went limp and she recoiled her shadow "One down two to g-

"Shika! Look out! The jutsu didn't work!" Kenta's voice rang out and Shika's eyes widened in surprise as she looked back at Houtaru who appeared to be chuckling.

"Always expect the unexpected Shika." Houtaru said in a dark tone. She mentally thanked Roku-bii for putting the mind block on her. Before her head snapped up again "Toshiro, now!"

Toshiro leaped up and fired a massive fireball at Shika who grabbed her fans and spun- sufficiently creating a vortex and blocking the fireball while Houtaru and Toshiro switched positions and Houtaru let forth a chakra arm to wrestle with Kenta's enlarged arms. Kenta gasped in pain as the chakra burned him and quickly recoiled and watched as Toshiro kept assaulting Shika with fire attacks.

Then Kenta felt the other arms recoil and cursed when he saw them enter the ground. There were holes everywhere and the black arms could pop-up anywhere.

Miri just stood in a defensive stance as she watched Houtaru's black chakra and Toshiro's fire attacks. Then she noticed something else: both of the older ninja were being pushed back closer to two holes in the ground.

Toshiro smirked as he finished his last onslaught of attacks but was surprised as he felt a strong gust of wind knock him backwards. He hit the wall on the other side of the arena and looked to see Shika standing with a fan in each hand looking rather smug. But Toshiro had done his job – Shika was now close to the hole.

Toshiro and Houtaru shared and look and Miri went back to make sure Toshiro was ok. He nodded when she asked and told her to stay back here.

And then it was over.

Two chakra arms exploded out of the ground and wrapped around the two opposing ninja and suspended them in midair with no hope of escape. Shika mentally slapped herself on the head. Her father had always told her the most important thing is to be aware of your surroundings.

"Kenta, Shika, and Michi are unable to continue battling. Winners: Houtaru, Toshiro and Miri." Tsunade yelled up from the stands. It was all to clear this was over.

The crowd applauded and Houtaru lowered the two back to the ground next to her. "Good fight." She said and held out her hand for the other two to shake.

"You too Pigtails. Remind me to never get you mad." Shika said with a smile.

"Yea, you're a really easy person to lose to Houtaru." Kenta said with a smile which Houtaru returned.

"As long as I don't have plans to kill you." Houtaru added and the other two seemed to pain as they realized that was probably true.

Toshiro smirked as he walked over with Miri and shook the older ninja's hands. "Anyone got a camera? I would hate to miss this photo-op." He said motioning to Airi who was still stuck to the ground.

"Should I tell her that that stuff doesn't come out with water?" Miri asked and Houtaru shook her head "Nah, she's not that stupid. She'll figure it out eventually."

They all tried to suppress their laughter as a group of medic-nin tried to help the purple haired girl out of the mess. When they finally started to make process Shika turned to the other two "Well, good luck to you guys." And she and Kenta headed back up the stairs to the box.

"Well you guys, it seems it's all for one now. Good luck to you." Houtaru said as a freed Airi stormed past them – the green goop still stuck to her clothes and hair. "I think it looks better like that." She commented and walked over to where Tsunade was waiting.

"May I begin by congratulating you three for making it to the finally round of the tournament. The final round is an all for one battle. So, if you're all ready let's g-

"I give up." Houtaru eyes widened and she turned to Miri in surprise.

Houtaru tried to reason with the girl "Why? Miri, you've come so far! You can't just-

"A good ninja knows when to back out. I could never win this battle even if I gave it my all. You two are in another league from me so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead." She bowed to the Hokage who nodded.

As Miri exited the field Toshiro turned to Houtaru abruptly "It's just you and me now." Houtaru turned and looked at him and noticed an intense look in his midnight blue eyes "Don't hold back."

Houtaru smirked. "Are you sure you want me to do that?" the blond got down in a fighting stance. Toshiro gulped and mimicked it.

Tsunade stood up a bit straighter "Final Round: Houtaru vs Toshiro…" it took all she had not to say 'Uzumaki vs Uchika' "Begi-

"Hokage-sama! Stop the match!" Tsunade turned to glare at a messenger running onto the field.

"What the hell? Can't you see we're in the middle of something?!" She roared.

The messenger froze "I can assure you it is of utmost importance."

Tsunade waited for a minute. Toshiro noticed how tense the messenger was, he also noticed Houtaru's eyes widen and her body seemed to tense. "Well?" Tsunade demanded.

The messenger took something out of his pouch and the entire arena seemed to go quite. Toshiro's eyes widened immensely as he looked at the scroll in the messenger's hands. The scroll was bound by a black flaming spiral – the same spiral he had seen on the hitate in Houtaru's bag and on Houtaru's kimono.

His eyes shot to Houtaru who looked back at him with wide eyes but her eyes weren't wide with confusion and awe, they were wide with conformation. She knew what was going on.

The messenger put the scroll in Tsunade's shaking hand. "A message from Onigakure."

**Yes I am evil. I realize this and I warned you. You know that if it was the Naruto people they would have stretched out every fight and then left you with a cliffy. At least I gave you the entire tournament. **

**Don't be to mad at me. Houtaru and Toshiro will get their time to fight and so will Airi and Houtaru so don't hate me to much!**

**A song that reminds me of how Toshiro feels whenever Houtaru kisses him in any way is 'Lips like Morphine' by Kill Hannah. It's a good song! **

**Review please! They make my fingers want to type! .**


	13. Chapter 13

Out of sight, out of mind

**!!****READ!! Ok people, this is the last chapter of part 1 of this story. The next chapter's a bit of an intermission chapter and then onto part 2! This story is by no means over so don't worry, however it is more than half-way done (I think)**

**For my reviewers:**

**Ghostfur: Stop harming your forehead! Bad! That's not a good thing! Here's the chapter! HERE! **

**SakuraKissy**, **Squir-san and chester-roxs: You are going to hate me more after this chapter. I mean you are **_**really**_** going to hate me….a lot. It's not a cliffy but….yea…you're gonna hate me.**

**Blood Zephyr: Thank You! You're the first one to figure it out! .**

**The song I used is '30 Minutes' by Tatu****. **

**HOLY MOO! THIS IS A FRIEKEN LONG CHAPTER! **

Tsunade looked through the window of her office and sighed. In the two hours since the message came the village basically shutdown in apprehension. No one knew what to think, all they knew was that Konoha was the first to be addressed by Onigakure and that held honor if not anything else.

"I have called you all here for a mission." The Hokage turned to see the two best genin teams Konoha had to offer standing in front of her. Konohamaru and Lee as well as both of their teams stood with total seriousness.

"I'm sure you're all wondering what the scroll said and I have decided that, for the sake of this mission, to tell you the contents." Houtaru ears seemed to perk up a bit at Tsunade's statement.

"The scroll didn't say to disclose any of this information, actually it encouraged explaining it to whomever goes on this mission. The message is from the Onikage requesting a mission. For the sake of Konoha I will also tell you that he has offered an alliance with our village. He has heard of our reluctance to join forces with the other nations against them and praises us for it." Tsunade then turned back to the teams in front of her.

"The mission is to escort the princess of Onigakure. It doesn't say to where but it does say to go to the village gate, and we presume that we will meat the princess there and then receive the escort location when we get there." Houtaru seemed to tense at the word princess but no one noticed.

"But, with all due respect Hokage-sama, why not send a higher ranked team. Considering the mission's over-all caliber wouldn't that be a wiser decision?" Yoshio asked.

Tsunade nodded "You make a good point. However it seems as though the Onikage knew we would lean in that direction and advises against it. He asks that we treat this mission like any escort mission. He also pointed out that the princess won't be a target because no one knows she will be traveling except for us, as well as the fact that no one knows what she looks like. We didn't even know there was a princess until now. So the most we can send would be two genin teams and you seven are the best in the village and both Lee and Konohamaru are both exceptionally skilled for Jounin as well."

Yoshio nodded and the Tsunade continued "Do you accept?"

"Why would we? It's obviously a trap." Airi said in a snob tone. Houtaru felt a vein pound in her head.

"How can you know that? If it was a trap the Onikage wouldn't have asked for low ranked ninja to be the escorts." Houtaru mentally thanked Toshiro for being the voice of reason.

"Well, my mother says that-

"Airi, your mother can go die in hell for all I care. Onigakure has managed to sustain itself for over ten years with no trade. If we make an alliance it could be a serious advantage to us." Tsunade said angrily.

"Or a disadvantage." Shika murmured.

"What was that Nara?" Tsunade asked through clenched teeth.

"I'm not agreeing with Airi but the other nations do want a war with Oni. If we made an alliance it would just be making us an easier target." Shika explained and Tsunade smiled.

"The Onikage apparently thought of that as well." Tsunade said causing Shika's eyes to widen. "It says in the letter that if the princess deems Konoha honorable of Oni's trust that the invitation of an alliance will stand until after whatever tension with the other nation is over."

"Wait a second! Did you say if the _princess_ thinks we're honorable enough?" Michi said in disbelief and Tsunade nodded. "So you're telling me that the fate of our country probably rest in the hands of some brat who's never been outside her village?"

Houtaru couldn't help but wince. That stung a bit.

"We shouldn't presume anything about the princess. If her father trusts her opinions we need to as well. Whether we like it or not it's her opinion that matters so we need to make the best of that." Toshiro said. He knew what it was like to be misjudged because of your title. He turned to see Houtaru smiling at him gratefully though he didn't know why.

"So that's that then. We accept the mission, Tsunade-sama." Konohamaru nodded.

"Yes, let us go and meat this most youthful princess in hope of uniting the youthful Konoha with Onigakure." Lee agreed.

"Good. You will head out tomorrow morning. We are under a lot of stress right now but I can assure you seven that we will work out the results of the exam today when you return. You set out at sunrise at the west gate. You are dismissed." Tsunade nodded.

Back at the Uchiha manor Houtaru looked over all of her possessions she had either brought with her or collected over the past year. She sighed and pulled out two storage scrolls and began sealing things inside the scrolls. Once she was satisfied all her things were stored and it would seem as though she was going on a simple escort mission she set her bag by her door and walked down stairs where she found the Uchiha men discussing some lightning jutsus Sasuke was going to begin teaching Toshiro.

The both turned when they heard the blond enter the room "Do you mind if we go to Ichiraku tonight?" she said kindly.

Sasuke shrugged and Toshiro nodded; neither really enjoyed ramen but Houtaru hadn't asked to go in a while so they supposed they could give her this night free from cooking. As they set out Toshiro pulled Houtaru back again and sent her a look.

"I'm fine. I guess I'm just a bit…anxious." Toshiro raised an eyebrow. Why would she be anxious? They had been on missions far more difficult than this one but he dropped it.

He looked to make sure his father was a bit further up ahead before he smiled at his friend and took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze "Don't be."

The rest of the night went by pleasantly and nothing really stood out. Houtaru ate her usual fifteen bowls and half of Toshiro's while Sasuke just sat by and smiled at the two's banter and Toshiro never let go of Houtaru's hand.

"Ne, Houtaru-chan?" Toshiro asked once they were lying in Toshiro's bed waiting for sleep to overtake them.

"Hmm?" Houtaru answered sleepily and looked up from Toshiro's shoulder to look at him.

"Well I was wondering if you knew the princess. Is she the kind of person we can trust the fate of our country with?" Toshiro asked worriedly but wanted his friend's opinion. He knew if this princess was anything like Houtaru everything would probably turn out fine.

Houtaru stiffened a bit and Toshiro took it as a bad sign. "Is she really bad and spoiled like Michi said? Is there even a princess to begin with?"

Houtaru breathed out a bit "Yes, there is a princess. The Onikage has a son as well. And I'll let you form your own opinions about her but if the Onikage trusts her opinion I guess you should trust her as well. But no, she's not spoiled or a brat. At least I think that. And she's powerful, _very_ powerful."

Toshiro thought about it for a minute and noticed that Houtaru's breathing was evening out. He decided to get this question out before he lost his nerves "Houtaru-chan, why do you have a hitate with the same symbol that was on the scroll's seal?"

Houtaru sighed a bit but she didn't tense up. She knew this was coming and she was to far gone to really address it right now. She nuzzled up closer to Toshiro; knowing this was probably the last time they would be together like this – just Houtaru and Toshiro.

"I'm going to tell you everything soon Toshiro-kun….soon." Houtaru said softly as she drifted off. It had to be soon. She didn't have much time left.

Toshiro laid his head on top of Houtaru's. _'Soon'_ she had said. He would wait for as long as it took for her to trust him.

Houtaru awoke as a small ray of light hit her eyes. She opened her eyes to see that the sun was just barely peeking over the eastern sky. She sighed. Today was it. Her time was up. Time to go home.

She slowly pried herself from Toshiro's comforting hold. She turned around to see Toshiro scowl and begin feeling around blindly for the source of heat that had just been taken away. When he couldn't find it he began to stir and finally woke up to see Houtaru with a gentle smile on her face and he scowled at her.

"You were warm." He said while whining like a two year old. Houtaru shook her head and laughed before walking out of the room. "Get your stuff packed. We have to leave soon."

She walked back into her room and got into her day clothes, re-did her hair and picked up her backpack before looking around her room one last time. Everything of hers that had been there was now in storage scrolls on her back. Her eyes widened in realization and she put her pack down and rummaged through it until she found what she was looking for: her hitate. She traced the spiral over it before putting it in her kunai pouch.

She took one last look at her room and sighed **"You're really going to miss it aren't you?"**

Houtaru looked at Kyuubi who had just come up behind her and smirked "You asked me that question a week ago and my answer is still the same. I'll miss the people more than the city. Just because I've lived here for a year doesn't mean that I'm anymore loyal to Konoha than before. Onigakure is my home and it will always be where my loyalty lies. But I have a new found loyalty with my friends but it comes second to my family."

Kyuubi nodded **"What do you want me to do**?"

"Well, Papa's expecting conformation that I'm coming. Head home and tell him I'm coming and then just stay in Oni until I get there. It'll take at least a week for us to get there because everyone else is so slow."

Kyuubi nodded then jumped up to the window **"As you wish, Hime-sama. See you when you get home."**

When she got down stairs she opened the fridge and packed all of the herbs she would need for the trip as well as some tomatoes for Toshiro. She also double checked that there was enough food in that fridge to last the Uchiha's a month. She couldn't help but wonder how they were going to eat without her there to help.

"Ready to go?" Houtaru jumped a bit. She had been so engrossed in her own thoughts she hadn't sensed Toshiro come up behind her.

Toshiro frowned at her. "What's wrong?" He knew something was wrong now. He had never been able to sneak up on her before.

She shook her head but he didn't buy it. "I know something's wrong. You can't hide it from me."

She looked up at him and smiled "I know. It's not that there's something wrong. It just that….certain….things are happening, just like they were supposed to. I knew they were going to happen but I didn't prepare myself enough. I tried but…. I guess it won't be easy either way."

Toshiro nodded "This has something to do with Oni, doesn't it? Does going back mean you're going to have to tell them that your family is dead? Is that what was inevitable?"

Houtaru shook her head "Yes and No. Yes, it has something to do with going back to Oni and my family but no, telling the people there my family's dead isn't the problem."

"Then what is it?" Toshiro asked in an angry voice. Why wouldn't she tell him?!

Sensing his anger Houtaru put a hand on his face and made him look at her "I promise you Toshiro-kun, by the end of this trip you'll know everything…well…at least I plan for you to."

Toshiro placed his hand over Houtaru's and searched her eyes for something. He didn't know what it was but apparently he found it and smiled at her. "I've got a birthday present for you."

At this Houtaru's eyes widened. "I know your birthday is not for another week but this is the last time we'll be alone so I can give you your present. I don't need Airi bawling all over me if I gave you a present on your actual birthday and she didn't get one." Toshiro explained but the light blush on his face told Houtaru he just wanted to be the two of them when he gave her the present.

He stepped away from her and reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rectangular box wrapped in golden paper. He handed it shyly to Houtaru who ripped off the gold paper carefully and opened the box and smiled.

In side the box was a black silk necklace that was a good inch wide and dipped to make a V at the center. On the V was the Uchiha family crest in the brightest shades of white and ruby. Where the V ended was a black onyx teardrop and at either end of the length of silk were fringes that were the same length as the solid part of the silk to tie the necklace together with.

She picked up the necklace and held it out to Toshiro who took it and tied it around her neck. The solid part of the black silk went perfectly around her slender neck and the V was over the hallow at the base of her throat leaving the onyx the rest right bellow it. It fit a bit like a chocker but that was so it wouldn't dangle too much and get in her way if she fought while wearing it because even though it was an expensive necklace, Toshiro meant for her to wear it all the time.

"It's beautiful Toshiro-kun, arigato!" Houtaru said with a smile and hugged her friend before giving him a small peck on the cheek. Both of the actions were gentle and Toshiro couldn't help but blush. Houtaru smiled a bit. She loved how the Uchiha would only blush when he was around her but never do so around anyone else. She didn't know that was because she was the only one who could make him blush but she still felt special anyways.

"Your welcome, it looks great on you." Toshiro said while he looked at it. He couldn't help but feel like smirking a bit at the fact that Houtaru was wearing his family symbol. It made him feel secure to know that who ever saw her necklace would know she was _his_ and no one else's. He shook his head a bit to clear his thoughts. Houtaru wasn't anyone's, least of all his. So why did he feel so…important? now that Houtaru was wearing his family crest? He shrugged it off as over protectiveness. **(A/N Remember he's twelve and he's basically been a stoic mini-Sasuke until Houtaru got there so he doesn't know how to identify his feeling very well. Also he's in denial….for now.)**

"What are you two still doing here? Don't you have to meat your team at the gate in three minutes?" Sasuke asked as he walked into the kitchen. Houtaru turned around and smiled at him.

"We were just going Sasuke-san. I just wanted to thank you for letting me stay here the past year." Houtaru said with a little bow.

Sasuke snapped out of his daze and pulled his eyes away from Houtaru's neck to answer. "Don't mention it. You've paid your way in cooking for us this year. But why so formal all of a sudden?" Sasuke asked raising an eye brow.

Houtaru shrugged and turned to Toshiro again "Your dad's right, we need to get going."

"But how are we going to get there in time? It take a good ten minutes to get from here to the west gate!" Toshiro said.

"Well then, we need to run!" Houtaru said before dragging her friend out of the house.

"Where is Toshiro-kun!?" Airi yelled to everyone waiting at the gate who rolled there eyes in response.

"I'm sure he and Houtaru will be here soon." Kenta reassured.

Jeraiya turned from talking to Konohamaru and Lee to talk to all the kids. "Come over here so I can explain where you're going to go. I've been on a dozen recon missions to that area and I know pretty much every path there is to know and-

"Wait a minute! Don't start doing things without us!" Houtaru screamed but stopped short causing Toshiro to slam into her back and fall to the ground.

"Dobe! What the hell was that for?!" He yelled up at her.

"It's just that….that sounding so wrong." Houtaru said with a petrified look on her face.

"Dobe! You're such and idiot! Now help me get up!" Toshiro glared.

"Teme! If I'm such an idiot why don't you just help yourself up!" She said while marching over to the group and sticking her tongue out at Toshiro who glared back.

"Can you two be mature for three minutes so we can get our travel plans? Master Jeraiya has places to be and we should be very grateful for him to come and help us plan our route." Konohamaru pointed out.

"Concerning the mission's caliber I don't think he could be doing anything else of that much more importance at the moment." Toshiro said as he stalked over.

Jeraiya glared at the young boy "Do you have any idea who you're talking about young man?"

"Don't work Ero-sennin, I got this one." Houtaru said and proceeded to slap Toshiro over the head. Jeraiya sweat dropped at the name. Houtaru had caught the old pervert peaking in the women dressing room once and got him put in the hospital by Tsunade.

"Moving on. See, the pass to Onigakure is here." Jeraiya said pulling out a map of Fire Country and the Great Mountain Range. He pointed to a small path going through a forest range and up the mountains. "The journey will take two weeks time and then we have no idea how long it will take to get to Onigakure once you pass over the top of the mountains and enter Demon Country. We've never been able to get past the first two kilometers past the fog before but we suspect you should be able to get through considering they are expecting you."

Houtaru frowned. No wonder it took these people two weeks to get to her country. They were going the long way.

She pushed her way to the map and shook her head "That's not the way you should go. You see right here?" She asked pointing to a skinny blue line at which everyone nodded. "It's only about fifteen kilometers away from the village and it should only take us a couple hours to get to. And see? It leads the opposite direction from the top of the mountains because that's where the headwaters are. If we fallow it we can insure that we're going in the right direction plus we'll have fresh water and fish. It leads to the steepest part of the mountain but it's the quickest way up. It would only take us three days to get to the mountains, three days to climb it and after that only a few hours to get to Onigakure. The village isn't that far from the mountain range and you're right the fog is a defense mechanism. With the people expecting us we should be able to get there with no trouble." She looked up to see everyone looking at her in with jaws dropped.

'_Oh…..that was a bit t__oo much wasn't it?'_

'_**No! What made you think that?! The fact that you just told them how to get to Oni in a week or the fact that their jaws are dropped or is it a combination of the two?!"**_

'_Shut up! I don't need this right now Shukaku!'_

"Tch, how do you know all that?" Airi sneered. Everyone else glared at Airi's tone but they all looked as if they wanted to know the answer.

"My caravan used to do travel in the Great Mountains a lot." Houtaru said with a shrug but quickly changed the topic. "So, if we get going now we should be able to get there in about six days."

"Well, since Houtaru-chan knows that area so well I think we should give her the map so she can lead." Toshiro suggested and Houtaru sent him a grateful smile.

"Good idea Toshiro. Now, if we plan to make it in the time Houtaru says we can, let's get going." Konohamaru said and everyone agreed.

Fifteen minutes later they were off jumping through the trees at a pretty fast pace. They all had separated into groups of sorts. Michi, Shika and Houtaru were chatting idly in the front of the group because Houtaru knew where they were going. Konohamaru was leaping impassively in between a blabbering Airi and an obnoxious Lee while the three boys were all ogling the girls in front of them and chatting as well.

Toshiro couldn't help but think it was cute how Houtaru's pig-tails flew up and down behind her head as she smiled at Shika and Kenta.

"So Houtaru, I _love_ your necklace." Shika said and she giggled a bit as Houtaru's face turned pink.

"Toshiro-kun gave it to me, it's my birthday present." Houtaru said while looking off in the other direction.

"Oh yes, Toshiro-kun gave it to you for your birthday. You do realize that he basically branded you?" Shika smirked.

"What?" Houtaru said with a confused look.

Michi laughed a bit as well "He gave you a present that you would wear every day with his clan symbol on it. It's basically saying 'this is mine, no touch.' Shika's right; he basically branded you but in a sweet, classy way."

Houtaru blushed a bit "Maybe I like being branded." And both other girl squealed.

A couple hours later they came to a wide running river. "Is this the river Houtaru-san?" Lee asked.

"Yes, this is it." She then looked up at the sky "We can keep going for now. If we keep going until after the sunset that should be good enough for one days journey. It's a nice night so we don't have to worry about tents or a fire because it's so warm out."

"Well thanks for your great leadership skills up until now, but I think it's time for someone else to lead the way. Let's head out everyone." Airi sneered before fallowing the river down stream.

"Airi." Houtaru said, trying to hide her amusement to some unknown fact.

"Don't worry about it Houtaru-_chan_. I don't mind leading for the rest of the trip if it's too difficult for you. I understand." Airi said with a sickening smile.

"That's not it….it's just that…you're going the wrong way." Houtaru said with a bit of amusement in her eyes. Everyone else started to also try to hide back their laughter and Toshiro had an evident smirk on his face.

Airi smirked again. "Houtaru, Houtaru, Houtaru…" she shook her head and wagged her finger, making Houtaru want to slap her "everyone here knows that water flows towards civilization."

Houtaru nodded her head "It would. Except for the fact that the civilization we're heading to is over that mountain over there." Houtaru said gesturing at the large mountain from the opposite direction. Airi blanched a bit and Houtaru smiled coyly at her "So if you're quite done, why don't we just continue in this direction." Houtaru said and turned around and starting leaping upstream.

This time Toshiro made sure to catch up to Houtaru before the other girls did. He needed to talk to his friend. Something was wrong with her. The others might not see it but she had always been really good at covering it up. She had told him what was wrong earlier but couldn't feel as if he could do something to help.

"Any thing I can do to help?" Toshiro asked in a quiet voice so the others wouldn't hear.

Houtaru smiled at her friend but it was a fake one and they both knew that "Give it your best shot."

"Well may I start by saying I think you taught Airi a little lesson back there." Toshiro smiled as they corners of Houtaru's mouth pulled up a bit "Secondly may I say how you are my bestest friend." This time Houtaru started laughing at Toshiro's childish tone. "And finally may I say how you're hair looks fabulous today." Houtaru beamed at her friend to tell him he succeeded in cheering her up before she fell into a fit of laughter at her friend's antics.

The next couple days passed by smoothly. The weather was nice, Houtaru cooked so no one got indigestion, they made excellent time and by noon on the third day they were standing at the bottom of the Great Mountains. Unlike most mountains, the bottom of these mountains wasn't a gradual upscale; it was a straight up 700 meter cliff.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Kenta asked. Toshiro looked at Houtaru and saw her judging the side of the cliff. Over the past few days she had been becoming worse. She got quieter and she seemed less cheery, and she kept giving Toshiro these strange looks. It looked like she was sad, like she was about to leave and never see him again.

"What do you think we should do Houtaru? You know there mountains the best." Yoshio pointed out and Houtaru looked at everyone.

"We are going to climb the cliff." Houtaru said as if it was an obvious statement.

"And just how are we going to do that?" Kenta asked again.

Houtaru shrugged "Like this." And proceeded to swiftly run straight up the cliff. When she reached the top she turned around "It's not that hard. When you get up here the forest starts so it'll be a much easier climb."

Everyone else exchanged a disbelieving glance. Houtaru must have been trained in these mountains, they finally figured out why she had such great climbing skills.

"Well, this seems like a very youthful exercise. Ok team; let's see who can get up this cliff the fastest!" Lee said and he proceeded to leap up the cliff; it wasn't as graceful as Houtaru but Lee didn't have chakra to climb with.

The rest of the team made there own way up. Kenta enlarged his arm and swung it up the cliff, Michi propelled herself up the cliff with a rod then ran the rest of the way, Toshiro got up just like Houtaru and Yoshio was able to manage the same, Shika propelled herself up with wind, Konohamaru was able to get up the same way Lee was and Airi used a kunai and wire.

When they got up there eyes widened. When Houtaru said forest she meant a scattered bunch of trees separated by steep boulders. There were almost no spots to stand and rest and the altitude was already starting to take affect.

"Houtaru-chan…." Toshiro started but he couldn't figure out how to begin. What would he say? 'How the hell are we supposed to climb this in just three days?'

"I know it looks hard but it's not. It just takes a lot of stamina and its best if you just keep jumping without hesitation. Just fallow me and you should all be fine." Houtaru said with an encouraging smile before jumping up the cliff.

Toshiro fallowed up next and could honestly say that Houtaru made it look a lot easier than it was.

After a few hours the sun disappeared over to the other side of the mountain and Houtaru stopped at a small ledge that was about ten meters in all directions. She turned around and saw that everyone looked like they were ready to die except for Toshiro, who was to stubborn to show he was about to pass out, and Lee, who was Lee.

"Ok, so here's the deal. It gets very cold up here at night and there is hardly any wood for fire so we're going to have to make due. Everyone needs to put on all the extra layers they packed and I have enough dried fruit to last us for a while." Houtaru said in a light voice.

Everyone nodded – to tiered to care and plus none of them had ever been up in the mountains before – and did as Houtaru said. They finally agreed to sleep in two rows to make sure they all fit.

None of them were quite ready to sleep yet. They were all exhausted but none of them were sleepy, so they all sat on their sleeping bags and planned the course of the next day. They all agreed to wake up at dawn and go as far up as they could before sundown.

Houtaru heard something off in the distance and leaped up onto her feet and got in a defensive stance "Someone's coming."

Everyone else got up as well "What would someone be doing up here?" Shika said in disbelief.

"From what I can hear they know their way around a mountain. Michi, can you give a visual?"

Michi nodded and activated her byakugan "There are three of them and….I can't see their faces. They're all wearing masks but I can't see past them. They look like ANBU."

Konohamaru thought this over "It seems Oni has its own set of ANBU."

"Then we need to treat them with the utmost respect, they are the employers of this mission after all." Houtaru said, only Toshiro caught the fact that she chose her words carefully.

Konohamaru nodded "We should let Houtaru talk to them. She knows this area the best and I think it would be wise." Everyone agreed. They all had a gut feeling that would be the smartest thing to do.

As if they traveled on the wind three figures dressing in all black dropped onto the alcove. They did all have masks on so it was impossible to see there faces however it was obvious there were one woman and two men. Each was also wearing a colored cloak that fell over their black clothes when they stood still. The woman had short purple hair but it was different than Airi's. This ninja's hair was a royal purple that was much more beautiful than Airi's and wore a cat mask in the same color as her hair with a cloak that was the same color and had the kanji for '2' on it. The taller man had a dog mask with brown markings on and long white hair tied back at his neck. His cloak matched the color on his mask and it had the kanji for '4' on it. The last man had the same white mask except with crimson markings in the form of what looked like a weasel and black hair, longer than the other man's, that was also tied back in a ponytail. His cloak was a scarlet with the kanji for '3' on it. **(If anyone can guess who it is I'll give you a request. Come one people! It should be obvious)**

Houtaru bowed to the three and they returned the gesture "Welcome to the Great Mountains. We were sent by the Onikage to make sure you were all safe." The one with the dog mask said.

"Thank you, I can assure you we are all safe and shall be arriving to the gate of your city in about two to three days." Houtaru reassured.

"Three day?" the woman scoffed but seemed to solemn up when Houtaru sent her a look. "That's fine. We'll make sure to give Onikage-sama your message. He will be pleased to see that….." even though no one could see her eyes, they seemed to glance at Houtaru "everything is going as planned."

The man in the weasel mask did nothing but stare at Toshiro. He finally turned to his comrades "Let's go." And with that they all disappeared.

"What the hell was that all about? They just got here and now they leave?" Michi asked Houtaru who nodded.

"They just came to check on us and report back to the Onikage. It only takes them a few hours to travel these mountains so there was no reason for them to stick around. To tell you guys the truth the princess will probably start to get a bit bored because you all move so slow." Houtaru said. It was true; she was bored out of her mind because of their slow pace.

"Since when were you such an expert on the mountains and Onigakure?" Airi asked in a mocking tone.

Houtaru shrugged "Since I was little. No one's ever asked. Now, I don't know about you guys but I'm tired." She said while slipping into her sleeping bag, which was placed next to Toshiro's.

Over the next twenty four hours they managed to get over half-way up the mountain until Houtaru assured them they would be arriving in Onigakure some time the next day. She also offered to take watch because everyone was so weary that they might be being watched by more people.

Houtaru sat on a large boulder about 50 meters above where the rest of her team was sleeping, or so she thought. She smirked a bit at the irony _'The escortie is watching over her own escorts.' _Even though none of them knew it she still thought it was ironic.

"Houtaru-san?" Houtaru looked behind her and smiled at the figure in the brown cloak behind her.

"It's good to see you again, Yon. I've missed you all." Houtaru said and stood up to hug the man in the dog mask.

"We have missed you to Hime-sama. Have these people been good to you?" the man asked while examining her "You seem in good condition. You have grown up beautifully over the last year."

"Arigato and yes; they have taken great care of me this past year. I think I'm actually going to miss them." Houtaru said while looking down at the group of people who had come to trust her over the past year.

Yon gave her a understanding smile "It's ok to miss them Hime-sama but trust me, knowing your father, you'll see them again." He eyed her neck "Yes, if it means your happiness you will see them again." Houtaru smiled at the old man and was about to thank him when she heard a rustling behind her.

"Houtaru-chan, who are you talking to?" she turned around quickly to see Toshiro standing there with a confused look on his face.

She shrugged "Just getting reassurance." She didn't have to look behind her to know that the man was no longer there.

Toshiro nodded and sat down next to her again and they were silent for a few minutes. "So we arrive at Oni tomorrow."

Houtaru nodded "Yes, we do." She said in a quite voice. Toshiro opened up his arms to the girl and she laid her head in his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her.

They sat in a surreal peace for a while "Toshiro-kun?"

"Hm?"

"Promise me something?"

"Anything." He told her and she looked up at him for a moment.

"Never lose trust in me. Know that I will tell you all my secrets before you return to Konoha. I swear to you." She said and looked up at him with a determined look in her eyes – it was as if she was begging him to believe her.

Toshiro nodded "I've proven to you many times that I trust you with my life."

"Good." Houtaru sighed and laid her head back down on his shoulder. He soon fell asleep and Houtaru didn't have the heart to wake him plus she didn't want to. She felt so safe here and didn't want to move, even when the sun started to peak over the eastern sky and she knew it was time to finish the final stretch of the journey home she didn't want to.

"Toshiro-kun, wake up." She whispered lightly to her friend who stirred but didn't wake up.

"No, I wanna stay in bed today, Houtaru-chan. The children can get themselves up can't they?" He mumbled and hugged her tighter to him making the blond girl blush a dark shade of red.

"Toshiro-kun! Wake up!" she said in a rushed voice causing the older boy to wake up and as soon as he saw Houtaru he blushed the same shade as her. She smiled at him before jumping down to the rocks below to see that everyone else was already ready to start heading up again.

"Ok everyone, we'll be able to get up the rest of the mountain by noon if we hurry and then it's all downhill from there." Houtaru promised but Toshiro noticed something different in her voice. It sounded hesitant – as if she was unsure whether she wanted to go or not.

"Houtaru, can we go a bit slower today? The atmosphere is to thin up here to go as fast as you can." Kenta said and everyone nodded a bit weary. Yesterday had been brutal on all of them. The altitude did nothing but get thinner and thinner the higher up they went and they had all almost passed out yesterday.

"We'll go a bit slower, but I can assure you it's easier to just go straight up at a fast pace." Houtaru nodded and began to leap up the side of the mountain again and everyone else fallowed her.

By noon Houtaru jumped up and rather large rock and she stopped, causing everyone below her to stop as well.

"What is it Houtaru?" Konohamaru yelled from his place at the back of the line.

"Nothing bad. Come up here and may I be the first to welcome you to Demon Country." Houtaru said and as everyone made their way up to stand next to Houtaru they all froze in shock and mild fear.

Only two meters down from where they were standing the fog began and it stretched out and led down into a bowl shaped valley that you could see nothing but a white mist. It held its own beauty but also emitted a feel of unease to everyone there except the blond whose eyes were closed and she was smiling. She saw what everyone else saw; a while valley of mist, but she felt more at home than she had ever or would ever feel in Konoha.

Back in said city something was making Tsunade restless. Ino had finally woken up but said she couldn't remember anything she had seen in Houtaru's mind. The slug user finally got up from her desk and rushed out the door to the Uchiha compound. Once she got to the giant house she decided she pounded on the door until Sasuke answered.

"What is it Lady Tsunade?" the Uchiha asked a bit miffed at being disturbed.

Tsunade ignored Sasuke's tone. "I need to search Houtaru's belongings. I just have a funny feeling."

Sasuke nodded and lead her up to the room Houtaru had kept all her stuff in for the past year. Tsunade rushed in the door and stopped dead in her tracks as she looked around the empty room. Sasuke's eyes widened a bit as well.

Tsunade stood perfectly still not wanting to process anything for the moment. For the first time since she had 'gotten over' Naruto's exile she needed a drink.

Konohamaru was the first to get his tongue back. "Michi, try to see into that fog."

Michi nodded and activated her eyes but shook her head "I can't see a thing. All I can see is gray fog."

Houtaru had expected this. No one could see into that fog from the outside except for her, her brother and her mother. She needed to get into the valley before they got any bright ideas.

"Shall we?" She asked before walking down into the fog. Only the top of her head could be seen before she turned around and noticed no one was fallowing her. "Come on."

"Houtaru-san, this may sound very unyouthful of me but I don't think it's such a good idea to go in there when we don't know what's down there." Lee said.

Houtaru turned back around and sighed "If the Onikage is expecting us, we will be fine." She said before disappearing. Toshiro immediately fallowed behind without hesitation, he had already said he trusted her with his life, and the rest fallowed as well.

They walked downhill for a while, the whole time no one said a word. Finally the ground seemed to even out after a few hours but it was still tense. They were all walking pretty close together considering if they were more than two feet away from one another they couldn't see each other.

"Houtaru, how much longer do you think it will be until we get there?" At being addressed Houtaru's head snapped up and she stopped dead in her tracks, causing everyone else to freeze as well. Houtaru's eyes couldn't be seen, it was as if the fog was hiding them along with the rest of Demon Country's secrets.

"About half an hour" she answered but Toshiro's eyes widened at the sound of her voice. It was deferent; cooler, clearer and it had a beautiful musical sound to it. But at the moment it was low and distant.

Konohamaru nodded but no one moved. "Why don't you sing, Houtaru?" Toshiro suggested in a gentle voice. Houtaru turned around and began walking a few steps and the other hesitantly fallowed her.

Toshiro thought he heard his friend mutter the words _"Mapa, Papa forgive me."_

As they walked a few more paces Toshiro could have sworn he heard the sound of children laughing. Then Houtaru started singing.

"_Out of sight, out of mind  
Out of time _

_to decide  
Do we run? _

_Should I hide?  
For the rest_

_of my life" _As she sang four figures appeared on either side of the group and no one could make out the faces of the any of the eight figures or the figures of the people for they were covered by fog.

"_Can we fly? _

_do we stay?  
We could lose _

_we could fail  
In the mo-_

_ment it takes  
To make planer, _

_or mistakes" _

"Who are you?" Konohamaru asked shakily. The mood Houtaru's singing was creating wasn't helping any. Toshiro was mesmerized by the sound of the blonde's voice but just barely heard one of the figures answer.

"We are here for the princess."__

30 minutes, the blink of an eye  
30 minutes to alter our lives  
30 minutes to make up my mind  
30 minutes to finally decide  
30 minutes to whisper your name  
30 minutes to shelter the blame  
30 minutes of bliss, 30 lies  
30 minutes to finally decide"

"What are you talking about? If you're here to help us why not wait at the gate until we have the princess?" Shika asked in a confused tone.

Again the same man answered "We are here for the princess."

This time Michi looked to Houtaru for answers "Houtaru, what are they talking about?" But Houtaru kept singing.

_Carousels _

_in the sky  
That we shape _

_with our eyes  
Under shade _

_silhouettes _

_casting shapes _

_crying rain_

Can we fly 

_do I stay  
We could lose, we could fail  
Either way, options change  
Chances fail, _

_trains derail." _Houtaru looked up to see a large wall looming in the distance.Only Toshiro saw as she slowly reached behind her head and untied the knot on her hitate and it fell into her hand. He wondered what she was doing as she reached into her kunai pouch and pulled out another hitate; though this one had a longer sash than her regular one. Toshiro's eyes widened as he realized this was the hitate he found in her backpack. He couldn't say anything for two reasons. He didn't know what to say and he was still enticed by Houtaru's voice. __

30 minutes, the blink of an eye  
30 minutes to alter our lives  
30 minutes to make up my mind  
30 minutes to finally decide  
30 minutes to whisper your name  
30 minutes to shoulder the blame  
30 minutes of bliss, 30 lies  
30 minutes to finally decide They got closer to the gate and everyone could make out a giant flaming spiral on the metal doors that split down the middle as the door opened to reveal three forms of people but no one could make out the figures, only that one was tall, one was of medium build and one was rather short. Houtaru stopped however the other eight figures went to stand behind the tallest silhouette.

Houtaru kept singing. __

To decide, to decide to decide to decide,

_to decide to decide to decide, to decide_

"Is one of them the princess, Houtaru?" Kenta asked and they all turned to Houtaru.

"To deicide." She then turned to them all and bowed. "Thank you all so much for escorting me home." He voice was light and polite.

"W-what are you talking about, H-houtaru?" Yoshio stuttered and Toshiro was frozen. Everyone gasped a bit as Houtaru raised her head to reveal she was wearing a hitate with the same symbol that was carved into the giant door.

Houtaru didn't answer the boy but instead walked up to Konohamaru and placed a scroll that she hadn't had a second ago in his hands. "Please give that to Godaime-sama." She bowed again "Tell her I appreciated her hospitality over the past year and that we will be in contact soon."

"Houtaru! What's going on? Why are you saying all these things and why are you wearing that hitate?" Shika demanded but again received no answer.

"Thank you all of being so nice to me this past year," she bowed again before walking up to Toshiro. She didn't say anything but this was the first time he saw her eyes in a while. They were sad but held something. That something was the same thing he had seen last night when she was….asking him to believe that she would give him answers before he returned to Konoha. Yet something about her eyes left him feeling emptier than he had before he had met her. Her eyes told him she was leaving.

She turned around and walked to the other figures standing in the giant door way and hugged them.

None of the Konoha shinobi moved as they watched the doors closed but something in Toshiro's mind finally went off. All rationality was gone. He didn't care that Houtaru had promised she would tell him. She didn't tell him how and when so that didn't matter to him.

"No." he whispered as he watched the door continue to close on the four figures embracing just beyond it. He saw Houtaru's head twitch towards him as he said the word. He lost it.

"Houtaru-chan!" he yelled and started running towards she steel doors when all of a sudden they shut with a 'boom', the fog surrounded him until he couldn't see or feel anything and then when he opened his eyes again he could see the sky and in front of him was a valley of fog that stretched until you could no longer see the horizon.

Toshiro dropped to his knees; defeated. He felt numb. He didn't want to think, he didn't want to feel. Everyone had always compared Toshiro and Houtaru to the moon and sun. Toshiro couldn't move, the moon couldn't shine without the sun and he already felt like nothing without his. He was cold, numb and could do nothing but sit there as the others were also carried back to the top of the Great Mountains and didn't say anything as they tried to talk to him. He just sat there.

**(Don't worry, I'm not stopping here but to anyone who has ever read 'New Moon' by Stephanie Meyer, Toshiro feels the same way Bella did after Edward left. To those reading the series and haven't gotten to this part yet please disregard my last statement.)**

A couple hours later the entire team was setting up camp for the night on a flat boulder. No one talked and Toshiro still hadn't moved from the spot he was in when they found him.

They got everything set up for the night and all laid down on their sleeping bags. They all looked at Shika who sighed "Toshiro, come down here and get something to eat."

Toshiro continued to stare at the looming fog. He silently got up and jumped down to the rock. He sat down on his mat but sat so he was not facing everyone else.

Finally after a few minutes of morbid silence Airi snorted "I don't get why everyone's so down. It was just Houtaru. She was obviously a spy or someone sent it to sabotage our country. She is just a lying bitch who turned out to be the princess of a country that's probably going to fall by the hands of the other nations soon. She's going to die just like everyone else in the pathetic country."

Everyone just stared at a smug looking Airi with emotionless expressions. Suddenly Toshiro shot up and growled "The only thing keeping me from throwing you off this mountain right now is the fact that you're not even worth it." His head shot around and he glared at her with cold, angry crimson eyes before jumping away.

The young Uchiha tried one more time to run into the mist but, like the other dozen times he tried in the last hour, he ended up where he started. He screamed angrily at the night sky and dropped down on his knees again. He had run for a good hour away from the rest of the group before starting his attempts at getting back down into the valley.

He just sat there and felt something run down his cheek. He felt his face and found that they were tears. This confused him. He had never cried before. Never had a reason to but now he was and he didn't understand why now, of all times, he was crying. It just added to the amount of stress and anger and loss he was feeling.

"_Toshiro-kun"_

Toshiro's head shot up and he looked around. He had heard his name but it was a faint sound, like a whisper of the wind. He looked around some more but saw nothing. This did nothing but get him more frustrated! He knew he had heard his name, but where did it come from?

Suddenly something flashed in front of his face, making him jump back in surprise. He looked and saw a little bug resting on his knee. He looked at it for a second before it flashed again and flew off his leg into the mist.

As he watched it go his thinking came back to him. What the hell was a bug that enjoys warm weather be over fifty thousand kilometers above see level? He got up and looked off into the direction the bug had gone and then it flashed again, apparently it hadn't gone far. He didn't know why – maybe it was because he was to numb to care – but he fallowed the small firefly. By no means was it the smartest thing. He had no idea what the layout of the mountain was and with the fog he could hardly see his hand in front of his face as well as the fact that there was no moon tonight so that meant no light.

Suddenly the ground flattened out so quickly that Toshiro fell but landed on something soft – grass. He knew he was no where near the bottom of the mountain so why was it flat here?

The firefly was standing on a piece of grass in front of his face. "Ok, so now what?" he asked as if the bug had all the answers. The bug flashed again before disappearing into the fog. Toshiro sighed then stood up and look around a bit. He was in a forest, or that's what it looked like at least. The trees were all arched, making a sort of tunnel and the raven was amazed that there was so little fog here. It was still to the point that he couldn't see past the trees but it was enough so that he could see a good five meters in front of him.

He then noticed the little spec of light that had returned to him, he held out his hand and the small bug landed on it, flashed once, and then flew off into the trees. Toshiro fallowed it. What else did he have to loose?

As he walked farther and farther into the tunnel of trees he noticed how the number of fireflies multiplied until there were probably hundreds lighting his way and the fog thinned out more and more until he could actually see the sky bright with starts but the moon was still invisible to him.

Then he heard something. It was the sound of running water. It didn't sound so much like a river or waterfall, more like a fountain. He walked a bit bore before he came to a break in the trees and it opened to reveal a tall fountain that looked as if it was made of smooth black stone and crystal clear water came out of a large crack in the black rock and pooled below there in a small pool of water. He walked up to the pool and placed his hand in it; the water was cool and crisp and it relaxed him a bit.

"Where are we?" Toshiro asked the familiar presence behind him. He didn't hear and answer but instead two tan arms encircled his stomach and pulled him into a warm embrace along with something that scared Toshiro a bit but he stayed impassive as ten black tails with golden tips encircled his body.

"This is where I was born." Toshiro felt himself melt at the voice. It sounded familiar but he knew he had never heard it before. He knew it was Houtaru but this voice was more melodic and sounded like the clear water flowing into the pool next to them.

When Toshiro didn't say anything Houtaru continued "I thought it would be as good a place as any to tell you….well everything."

"What? Why you're leaving? Why you had to lie to me for the past year? Why you led us all to believe you were loyal to Konoha? Why you all lead us to believe that you were our friend?" Toshiro tried to get out of Houtaru's hold but the arms and tails tightened around him and he couldn't move. Once he stopped struggling Houtaru nuzzled his neck and buried her face in it. Even from her muffled position her voice still sounded as clear and flowing as before.

"I did lie to you, but I never lied to you about being your friend. I never lied to anyone about that." Toshiro took a deep breath. Houtaru always knew how to calm him down. She knew that he was just confused and that most of what he said was anger induced.

When she found he was calm enough to talk she proceeded. "I tried my best not to lie about everything. I didn't lie when I said my family was nomadic, however they haven't been nomadic for about thirteen years."

"When Demon Country was recognized." Toshiro mused and Houtaru nodded.

"My father is the Onikage, I think you already realized this, and I snuck out of Oni a year ago because I wanted to see Konoha. I had to tell everyone my family was killed because that was the only way there was no proof that I was lying. If I said they were missing or captured they could have found out I wasn't telling the truth."

"So why not tell me?" Toshiro said and Houtaru's hold tightened on him again as he tried to break free.

"I know this may sound lame but it was to protect you and my parents and to ensure I could stay in Konoha longer…with you." She took her head out of his neck and placed her chin on his shoulder "If somehow word got out that I was the Princess of Onigakure and….my other title, it would put everyone in serious danger. Not so much the first but the second would defiantly put people in danger."

"Why?"

"Listen, if people found out my parents were still alive they would go looking for them and I would have to leave and probably not come back."

"Why?"

"I said listen! But that part isn't my secret to tell. But I will tell you that my second title…is just for your ears and no one else's. I'm even going to have to put a block on your mind so no one else will have access to what I'm about to tell you." Houtaru whispered.

"I won't tell anyone." Toshiro muttered.

"I know." Toshiro could hear the smile in Houtaru's voice.

"I'm going to start with a story." Toshiro nodded and Houtaru began.

"About twenty years ago, my father was exiled from his village for reasons that were both unfair and unjust. However he was misjudged and mistreated his entire life because of what he was; a jinchuuriki: a container of one of the nine great demons or Bijuu. After my father was exiled he and my mother – who had always seen my father for what he was and eventually fell in love with him – traveled all over the world and gathered the Bijuu of the other eight demons and decided to build a place where they would accept any person as long as they were kind of heart. That's one of the reasons we have kept others out of our country. Most of our population is made up of missing nin and people who are being hunted for unjust reasons. Even the other eight jinchuuriki, who are now my father's council, are hunted by the countries they came from or something similar to being hunted."

Now, my father discovered that the Bijuu weren't all that bad but they gave whoever held them a bad name, so he came up with a plan. He wanted to extract all the Bijuu from the nine jinchuuriki and put them somewhere where they would be able to remain with no issue and when my mother got pregnant, one of the demons sensed a natural demonic energy coming from inside my mother's stomach. The source of energy was extremely powerful and they eventually discovered the unborn baby had a large store of natural – or rather unnatural – chakra."

The Bijuu then identified the unborn baby as something that would be able to hold all of the demonic energy and not die so plans were made to have all nine of the Bijuu sealed into the child as soon as it was born. However something went wrong. My mother went into labor early and the nine jinchuuriki weren't ready to transfer the demons yet. There was nothing they could do about it so a baby was born. That's when they discovered that the large store of energy wasn't in this child at all and it turns out my mother was having twins, they hadn't been able to tell before because the images anyone got of the babies was blurred by the power coming from the second baby."

Where we're standing now is the most spiritually peaceful place in the valley. The rock we're standing on is obsidian or volcanic glass and no one knows how it got here. They took my mother here and the baby was born and the demons were transferred right as the fireflies came out during the Firefly Festival and you can always find fireflies here. Everything I told you when we were together wasn't a lie, I may have edited but it wasn't a lie. I do have an older twin brother and everything else I told you is true as well."

Houtaru finished her story and Toshiro didn't know what to say about anything.

"Toshiro-kun, I'm going to show you something. I don't care if you scream, run away or are mad at me but you have a right to know this and I want to tell you." Houtaru stepped back a bit and Toshiro suddenly felt freezing cold at the lack of warmth.

Toshiro still didn't turn around he still had one more question that was eating away at him "You're not coming back to Konoha with me are you?"

"No." Houtaru's voice was quite and tied with regret but it was also final.

"And I can't stay here with you can I?" he felt the same empty feeling he had been feeling before start to come back.

"No."

"Why! I don't think I can go for any period of time without you. I….I…" for the life of him he couldn't figure out why he needed to be near this girl. He had never even wanted a friend before he met Houtaru and then he found himself opening up to someone and for the first time in his life having them listen. But why did he never want to be separated from her? Why was the thought of being without her for how ever long she's not going to be with him hurting him so much?

"I know but it's for the best. I need to stay here for my training and you have to go back to Konoha. What would it look like if the young Uchiha heir just disappeared after the first mission with Oni? We want to ally Konoha and Oni, not make a war out of things." Houtaru said, trying to reason with him.

"Training?" Toshiro said, trying to find something to distract him from his anger. He was mad because he knew she was right to do the things she did. She had to lie to him and she had to leave and he was mad because he couldn't do anything about it.

"Yes, training. I have to train because…..Toshiro-kun, just look at me." Houtaru's voice was pleading with Toshiro to look at her but it still held a firm edge.

Toshiro turned around quickly and almost fell backwards into the pool when he did. He thought he was looking at a perfect angel except this one had tails in stead of wings. This angel's hair was a wave of liquid gold that fell down past her waist with obsidian streaks running through it, all her features were perfectly straight and angular but still had a defined softness to him. She had ten black tails with golden tips that swayed majestically behind her and a perfect tan complexion. She had sharp, pointed nails and canine teeth that looked like they could rip through steel and her ears were like a wolf's and they were black with gold tips as well has three whisker marks on either side of her face. Toshiro gasped as he saw her eyes. They were a shining black with golden slits down the center and he thought they were beautiful. He then realized this person was wearing a silk necklace with the Uchiha crest on it.

"Houtaru-chan?" he asked but he already knew the answer. No one else could ever make him think adjectives such as 'beautiful' and 'majestic.'

She nodded shyly "You're not running away." She commented.

"Why would I run away? You're beautiful." He said without thinking causing her to blush.

"This is how I really look. I am…in addition to being princess of Oni I'm also, Princess of Demons and the future demon lord. I'm the baby from the story and I'm the one who has all the nine Bijuu inside me." She muttered before turning away from him.

He looked at her with a quirked eyebrow. "Are you ashamed of it?"

She shook her head "Never, but….why aren't you afraid of me? I'm a demon; I could loose control of my power and kill you at any moment. That's why I have to live in Onigakure. I can practice my powers here. I may have the power of a demon lord but I have a long way to go and I can't get there in Konoha." She said shaking her head.

Now Toshiro's anger was starting to rise again "I'm not scared because it's you, I know you would never hurt me and besides that I think you look more like an angel than a demon." He started and he could see a small smile form on Houtaru's lips before he went on "But I'm not going back to Konoha if you're not coming back as well."

Houtaru sighed "Toshiro-kun….you have to go back, and without me. I don't want you to go either but it's for your own safety, and it prevents a war."

Toshiro felt like screaming. He knew she was right but he also knew he couldn't survive without her. "You have to go back now." Houtaru said but she wouldn't meat his eyes.

"NO! I'm not leaving without you! I can't figure it out why but the thought of being without you hurt, and it hurts a lot! I'm not letting you leave! And I'm defiantly not leaving you!" Toshiro yelled but Houtaru just shook her head and it looked as if there were tears in her eyes but they wouldn't flow.

"No, no, no! Don't shake your head as if you've given up! I don't know when I'll see you again! Please Houtaru-chan, just stay with me and we'll think of something. I don't want you to leave!" Toshiro watched in horror as the fog came back and he could no longer see anything around him except for Houtaru. Houtaru just stood there unmoving.

"No! I'm not leaving, I'm not! Please!" He was begging now "Please! I don't want to say goodbye! I don't want to leave you, you're my best friend! Don't…" but the feeling was already back and he fell on his knee; he head down in defeat.

He felt someone kneel in front of him. A soft hand lifted his head up and he met a pair of scorching obsidian eyes with gold running down the center.

Then he felt something else. Something that made the empty feeling leave. He froze in surprise as he felt Houtaru's soft lips on his. For what seemed like an immeasurable moment they stayed like that and time seemed to freeze for Toshiro.

Houtaru pulled away a bit before leaning into whisper to Toshiro, who was still frozen from shock "Aishiteru, Toshiro-kun."

Then he fell into a black sea. He couldn't see anything but he was warm; comfortable. Most of all he could feel the smile on his face and the content, full feeling in his chest. He didn't know how long he stayed like that but he didn't want to leave the safe feeling he had.

"Toshiro-kun, wake up." He heard a voice whisper but he frowned, it wasn't Houtaru's voice. He opened his eyes to meat an egg white color. He looked around the hospital room to see all his friends, his father, the Hokage and Airi who was shedding fake tears and went to hug him but he pushed her away.

"Where's Houtaru-chan?" he asked but then everything hit him once he saw his friend's faces. The numb feeling came back and he laid back down and tried to sleep; hoping to go back to the black sea where he was content and Houtaru wasn't gone.

**Told you guys you would hate me. Or if you don't then good for you! But like I said this story isn't over, this is just the ending to part one. The next chapter is a chapter but it isn't the beginning of part two; it's kinda like…I don't know how to explain it.**

**Let me explain something: I know that in the actual anime that if you extract a Bijuu out of the jinchuuriki they die. In my story Naruto found a way to do that without actually killing them all so that's why they're all still alive. **

**The 'black sea' that Toshiro said he was the space Houtaru created in his mind so it would be protected and he would stay unconscious during the trip back to Konoha. **

**Aishiteru – I love you. **

**Review if you have questions! Or if you just want to review that's encouraged as well!**


	14. Time Passes

Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air

**Punk2Cute: Thanks! And about the time thing….well……define 'not to long'**

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**HevanHelpUs45: Yes they are, it's either going to be in the next chapter or the one after that, just depends on what I decide. I write stories as I go so with just a general idea of what's going to happen so I can say yes it's going to happen, yes it's going to happen soon, no I don't know whether it's in the next chapter or the one afterwards but the way I want things to go it's going to be the latter. **

**chester-roxs: You gets a smily face for reading awesome books .**

**GraityTheWizard: Don't worry, I won't make her to good. And I loved the way you phrased it "Sakura and her spawn" it make me laugh but not the 'I'm laughing in your face' but 'it's funny because it's true' kinda laugh**

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**Thank you all for your reviews! **

_**:Time Passes: **_

And so history seemed to repeat itself in Konoha. The city felt dead. The young blonde girl had managed to bring life back to the city after Naruto's exile and she took it with her when she left.

For a while the only people who went on like nothing had happened or even celebrated a bit were the people who still thought Naruto's exile was the right thing to do (They now called themselves 'The People's Voice of Konoha') but that all changed three months after when a group of over ten thousand ninja consisting of Oto Ninja, Iwa Ninja and Kumo Ninja showed up at Konoha's gate.

Apparently the Raikage and Tsuchikage had written letters to Konoha asking that if Konoha wasn't going to join them in their advances against Onigakure than would Tsunade please allow their ninja to make camp for a time while they planned their invitation of Oni.

Tsunade complied only for the sake of Konoha. She knew that the Onikage, who ever he was, wouldn't hold it over her and that if Oni's overall power was anything compared to Houtaru's as just one person than Oni would probably pull out of the attack unscratched. Toshiro had kept true of his promise and had not told anyone anything Houtaru had told him, but he didn't really say anything to anyone anymore.

Tsunade allowed the ninja to make camp in the forest on the outskirts of the city and that's where they stayed for three weeks before they packed up and left for Oni.

The day that they reached the Great Mountain Range was a day that they intended to be bookmarked in history as the down fall of The Land of Demon's. It was bookmarked but it was called 'The Day Demons Rose' and gained the country the name 'The Land Protected by Demons.'

The Iwa ninja had knocked down a wide pass in the mountains sufficiently gaining then ground-level access into the valley. The ninja had made ranks and planned to charge into the valley, using sound to navigate, and destroy Oni and leave no survivors, then go home and celebrate.

They never got the chance.

They had known there was a fog that blocked any access to the valley and that no one had ever gotten through the barrier to Oni but they had foolishly thought that was going to be their biggest problem. As they were about to charge into the valley the mist had poured into the pass but they had stupidly paid no mind to it and kept charging. Only about a dozen of the backmost ranks had been able to escape with barely their lives and told of how nine giant masses of different colored chakra had swept out of the mist and destroyed everything in their wake. The ninja told of how each mass appeared like tails from something that was glowing black in the center of the mist and behind it the silhouettes of nine giant beasts, each with one more tail than the next, could be seen behind the glowing form.

The destruction had been immense and the death toll had been half of the first Great Ninja War. Almost ten thousand ninja died and it was because of some mysterious weapon that Onigakure had possessed and it did nothing but fuel the fear in the opposing nation's eyes. It had fueled the fear but to a point that no one would try anything against Oni any time soon.

After the attack on Onigakure the nation seemed to all but disappear again. The mountain had sealed itself back up and the mist hadn't retreated but instead engulfed the other side of the mountains. Nothing came from Oni. No notes, no messages for Iwa, Oto or Kumo demanding apologies for the attack or any reprimands, nothing about declaring war on the other nations, nothing; absolutely nothing.

A few years past with nothing but stress between the different nations. No one was promoted, no one went on missions outside their countries, and no one traveled. Everyone was waiting for Oni to make a move.

For Houtaru, her world had progressed in leaps and bounds. After she returned home there was a celebration to celebrate her return and the twin's birthday. She had allowed herself to have some fun because she knew that the road from now would be brutal, and she was right.

The next day she had begun her training again. Her father trained her relentlessly and she had even summoned all nine of the Bijuu one day before training under them as well as training under Gaara and with her team: Takeru and Nozomi. She had managed to get control of some of her power and by the time of the other nation's attack she was able to easily kill the army of ninja and that's what had scared her. After that her power had grown. She was now able to fully control all of the Bijuu's full power however she was having trouble controlling her own.

She had found that she had two different types of her own chakra: black and gold. Her black chakra was what she called her 'demonic chakra.' She could use it to destroy only and it would slash trough, burn or destroy almost anything including other chakra. It was extremely powerful and she would use it in all of her jutsus such as all her versions of rasengan and everything else she would use. It was a solid form of chakra that she could use anyway she wanted to.

Her gold chakra was what she had referred to as her 'angelic chakra.' She didn't call it that because she thought she was anything compared to an angel, but she called it that to represent that extreme difference between it and her 'demonic chakra.' This is a chakra she hadn't known about before. This chakra could be used to a greater extent than Ni-bii's healing chakra. It had healing properties and, as the Lord of Demons, it allowed her to heal any wound inflicted by anything, even a demon. She could even bring someone back from the brink of death and easily use this chakra to adapt someone's chakra network in any way she pleased with the help of her Aoi-byakugan. She could increase the person's power or take it until they were left with only enough to keep them alive for about a minute. In a way it was more deadly than her demonic chakra but it could be used for so much good she just couldn't bear to give it a bad name.

It was with this chakra that she found a way to summon all nine of the Bijuu once more and keep them sustained. She would create a chain of gold chakra the appeared as a giant leash and collar on each of the demons. They didn't really mind; she was their master after all.

But everyone knew she had changed. Something about her eyes had always seemed to be empty, dead in a way. Everyone, especially Takeru, noticed. (it was a twin thing) Takeru had even addressed it once but she had said it was nothing. Finally her father asked her:

:Flash:Back:

"Houtaru?" Naruto asked while he knocked on her door and found her looking through a scroll about some demon that she had heard wanted to speak to her about something. Demons would sometimes show up in Oni asking to see Houtaru now. There weren't many but it was evident that they were all realizing that they had a new lord to answer to. They had found out about heard after word of the failed attack by the apposing ninja on Oni. Every demon knew that no mortal, powerful or not, could do something like that. 

"What is it, Papa?" Houtaru asked while looking at him with her piercing black and gold eyes. She had been back for a few months now and she had decided on a neutral look that combined her human appearance with her real one. She had kept her eyes, ears and one of her tails but she had kept her hair it's pure golden color and her teeth, nails and whisker marks weren't a sharp or pronounced. She still wore her hair in its usual high pigtails but over the past months it had straightened out a bit but was still spiky. 

"I wanted to talk to you about something." Naruto said with a sigh and came to site down next to his daughter. She looked at him and waited "Something's been wrong with you, I can see it. I used to act the same way, wear the same mask that you're trying to get away with. Would you care to tell me what it is? And does it have something to do with that necklace you wear all the time?" He eyed the black necklace that had somehow been able to retain its sheen throughout all the training she did. He had been curious about the Uchiha crest being on it the first time he saw it but didn't ask her about it. 

Houtaru looked at her father and nodded "May I speak to Mama please?" 

Naruto looked surprised. Hinata and Takeru had always been close and he and Houtaru the same. Sure, Hinata and Houtaru were close and they did share one of those 'mother, daughter bonds' but Naruto didn't know why she would want to talk to Hinata about this instead of him. He pouted a bit "Fine, I'll go get her."

Houtaru laughed a bit at her father "Don't take it personally, Papa, it's a girl thing." She laughed again as her father's lips made an 'O' shape "And you don't have to go get her, she was spying on us from downstairs. She'll be right up." 

Naruto rolled his eyes. Living in a house full of byakugan users wasn't something he had learned to like over the years. 

There was a knock on the door and Hinata stepped in to the room with a coy smile "Just testing out some of those tips you gave Takeru, dear. They work quite well, just so you know." She smirked and Naruto grumbled and stalked out of the room causing the two left to laugh. 

Hinata turned to her daughter and smiled "What do you want to talk to me about, my little firefly?" Houtaru smiled at her mother before going up and tapping the door twice with her finger and walked back to her couch and pulled her mother down with her. 

"That was to make sure no one could spy on us." Houtaru explained and her mother nodded. Houtaru got really quite for a minute and wondered what to say while her mother patiently waited "I fell in love with someone in Konoha." 

Hinata nearly choked at Houtaru's frankness but she had never been good at easing someone into things – just like her father. Hinata reached out a hand a fingered the silk Uchiha crest one Houtaru's necklace. "The young Uchiha I presume?" 

Houtaru nodded and Hinata smiled "Is he cute?" Houtaru blushed a bit and nodded. She needed someone to talk to like this and she was glad she had her mother. When she had tried to talk to Nozomi the red-head had gushed about her _twin brother._ Ew! Even if they weren't identical she did not need to here that. 

Hinata picked up the onyx teardrop in her fingers "Is he the reason you've been so sad?" Houtaru nodded again. 

"I think he thinks that I left because I wanted to. If it was my choice he would be here in the village with me." Houtaru said. Hinata understood, if he was anything like his father he would have appeared mad because he couldn't control the situation "Even after I told him I loved him."

Hinata breathed out a bit "So that's where you slipped off to that night." Houtaru nodded again sheepishly. Hinata sighed "I don't really know what to tell you. I believe that you will be able to see him again but I do know how you feel. Your father has decided not to communicate with the other nations for a time now, but regardless I know you'll see him again." 

"Thank you Mama, but I need to ask you a favor? Will you help me with my Aoi-byakugan?" 

"Of course dear, how is that little apprentice of yours doing? Is Tora-chan getting any better?" Hinata asked. 

"She's not my apprentice yet, Mama. I just got back a few months ago, maybe in a couple months." 

Houtaru smiled at her mother, she was still said but somehow having her mother say something helped a bit but it didn't matter, she still felt breathless but not in the good sense. She felt as if her air had been all but taken away from her, just giving her enough to survive. In reality though her mother's words hadn't helped her at all. She didn't think anyone would understand and knew that she just couldn't go around asking if anyone had been in this situation before. So she just coped - if only just.

:End:

**(A/N the song is 'No Air' by Jordan Sparks, she doesn't sing it, I just think it accurat****ly depicts how both of them feel, when I say ****Houtaru ****That means it's her POV, same for when I say ****Toshiro****)**

_Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no ai__r_

**Houtaru: **Do you think that this is any easier for me, Toshiro-kun? Do you think because I wouldn't let you stay that I don't feel anything?

If I should die before I wake  
It's 'cause you took my breath away  
Losing you is like living in a world with no air  
Ohh

**Houtaru: **I feel as if I can't breathe, like I'm suffocating but just can't die. I know I sound silly but I can't help but think that. I keep getting stronger and stronger but each night I can hardly sleep. I got so used to being in your arms, Toshiro-kun, that now I have endless nightmares. I dream that I see you dying because I'm not there with you and it scares me.

_I'm here alone, didn't wanna leave  
My heart won't move, it's incomplete  
wish there was a way that I can make you understand _

**Houtaru: **I know I was right to leave and I know it's what made the most sense, it's what was best. But I didn't want to leave, I feel as if I have an empty feeling inside of me and it hurts like physical pain. Do you know that? Do you understand that I had to leave for your safety and that of our homes? 

But how do you expect me  
to live alone with just me?  
'Cause my world revolves around you  
It's so hard for me to breathe

**Houtaru: **Do you really think it's been easy for me? Can you survive and do you feel the same thing I do? I centered my whole world around you and now you're gone and it's all my fault. Why didn't I just tell you the truth? I know there wasn't a way to but I could have found a way. I'm sorry Toshiro-kun, I'm so sorry. _  
No air, airohhh  
No air, airnooo  
N__o air, airoh a  
No air, air _

Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air  
Can't live, can't breathe with no air  
That's how I feel whenever you ain't there  
that's no air, no air  
Got me out here in the water so deep  
Tell me how you gonna be without me  
If you ain't here, I just can't breathe  
there's no air, no air

_  
_**Toshiro: **It's been so long since you left. I've trained and I've gotten stronger. But I feel nothing and my days go by in a haze. It's like I'm here but just barely. It's like trying to breath through a tiny tube that's been closed off and it hurts until I just got tired of feeling anymore.

_  
I walked, I ran, I jumped, I flew  
Right off the ground to float to you  
There's no gra__vity to hold me down for real _

**Toshiro:**The only place I ever see your face is in my dreams now and I can hardly get there anymore. I got so used to you being here with me while I slept that most nights I just lay awake. I'm so cold. Everyone's worried about me but I don't care. I just don't care. Whenever I manage to dream I always dream of flying. I'm flying in a mist and I see you but then something pulls me back and I find out it was all just a dream and I become cold again. Just like my father, everyone says, Just like my father. **  
**_  
But somehow I'm still alive inside  
You took my breath, but I survived  
I don't know how, but I don't even care  
_

**Houtaru: **I don't know how I managed it but somehow I can still be happy. Whenever I train I think that if I can only have a bit more control, only a bit more, than I can come back. Somehow, I think by some miracle, I'm still alive but for now I don't even care. All I care about is getting stronger and doing whatever I can to get back.

_  
So how do you expect me  
to live alone with just me  
'Cause my world revolves around you  
It's so hard for me to breathe _

**Houtaru: **Do you have a secret to helping this pain go away? Or are you just as empty as me? Can you honestly say that you think it's any easier on me?

**Toshiro: **Whenever I walk by people give me looks of what appear to be pity, as if I should be hurting. But I'm not. I'm just numb. I can't feel anything. Have you moved on yet? You've always been so beautiful, so full of life so I'm sure you have. That's why I stay numb, so when I find out you've moved on to someone better fit for you that the empty feeling I felt before won't come back. It hurt to much and you are the only one whose ever been able to hurt me like that, Houtaru-chan, because no one else has ever mattered to me.

Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air  
Can't live, can't breathe with no air  
there's how I feel whenever you ain't there  
there's no air, no air  
Got me out here in the water so deep  
Tell me how you gonna be without me  
If you ain't here, I just can't breathe  
there's no air, no air

**Houtaru: **I told you I loved you and I hope, somehow, that you believed me. I could understand if you didn't, I could understand if when I came back you had someone else. I hurt you too much, I hurt me to. I would deserve it, to be alone. I would deserve it because I caused you pain. I saw it in your eyes when you found out I was leaving. Even if you don't feel it anymore, it was still there and I still caused it.

_  
No air, airoohhh  
No air, airoohhh  
No air, airnooo  
No air, airNo more  
It's no air, no air _

**Toshir****o: **One day I woke up in the hospital. Apparently I did a jutsu over and over again until I nearly died of chakra exhaustion. I didn't even know, it didn't hurt because I can't feel anything. Everyone told me I was being so tough by not showing pain when in reality nothing hurts me anymore, until I see you again, if I ever see you again, the only thing that will hurt is the gaping hole in my chest that I can't feel anymore. But sometimes, if I dream of seeing you and I wake up and find you gone, I can feel it. If only for an instant I can feel just a sliver of it and it hurts more than any injury I've even been dealt. 

ohhhhh baby  
ooohhhhh It's no air, no air  
Hey ohh no aiiiiir ohhh  
ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh

**Toshiro:**You told me everything I wanted to know and more, you told me you loved me. Whenever I remember that everything feels better but only until I remember you've probably moved on and realized I wasn't worth your time. Would it have been any different if I had had the courage to tell you that I love you too? I still love you. Somewhere under all this icy numbness I can feel it.

_  
Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air  
Can't live, can't breathe with no air  
It's how I feel whenever you ain't there  
no breathingno breathing  
Got me out here in the water so deep  
Tell me how you gonna be without me  
If you ain't here, I just can't breathe  
It's no air, no air  
_

_Baby! Baaaaaby!_

**Houtaru: **I wonder what people would say to them if I told them the reason why I was sad all the time was because I watched the only person who I've ever loved like I love you be carried away from me. Would they say I'm too young to know what love is? Would they tell me that it was just a crush and I should move on? Do you know what I would tell them, Toshiro-kun? I would tell them that I'm already in to deep to come out ever again and I don't want to. Even if you have moved on I don't think I ever will, don't think I can.

_  
Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air  
Can't live, can't breathe with no air  
It's how I feel whenever you ain't there  
it's no air no air _

**Toshiro:**I can't breath and it's because I love you. I love you so much that it hurts me just as much when you're not here. I don't know when you're coming back. Are you ever coming back? You didn't say goodbye so does that mean your coming back?

_  
Got me__ out here in the water so deep  
Tell me how you gonna be without me  
If you ain't here, I just can't breathe  
_

**Houtaru: **You know that necklace you gave me? It seems like forever ago doesn't it? But all this time I've never taken it off. I put a protective chakra shell around it so it can't get damaged. I never take it off because it makes me feel special. It makes me feel that I have to come back because I belong to you. In a way I do. My heart belongs to you and there's nothing you or I or anyone else can do about it. I don't even think Kami could do anything about it now. I can't breathe without you. You're my air and my life now; do you feel the same way about me?

_  
It's no air, no air  
No air, airohhh  
No air, air  
No air, air  
No air, air _

Finally, after five years, Naruto called everyone in his council – this included Hinata, Takeru, Nozomi and Houtaru – and held up a scroll in his hands with his seal on the bottom.

"Who wants to review it first?" he asked the people in front of him and Houtaru held out her hand. He threw the scroll to her and she unrolled it and started reading. A smile slipped onto her face and her eyes lit up, then her face turned into a smirk.

"I must say I'm impressed, who knew you could come up with something like this by yourself." Naruto sent a glare at his daughter as she passed the scroll to Nozomi, who nodded as she read it but kept her face impassive. Takeru read over it next before passing it onto the council of eight who gave it to his mother to read.

"I agree with Imouto, it seems like a good idea, considering the fact they've been to scared to promote any chunin for the past five or six years I say you have a brilliant idea on your hands there." Takeru nodded.

"Naruto-sama, is this just Konoha or are you going to involve Kiri as well?" Raku asked.

"I think the Mist deserves an alliance with us, considering they refused to be apart of that joke alliance that thought they could take us down." Nii said with a look towards the Onikage who nodded in agreement.

"I think we should respect the alliance a little more in all there troubles towards us. I believe not troubling them with the thought of an alliance with us will do them justice, after all they still have quite a bit of rebuilding to do if they plan on making up for the ninja they lost, isn't that right Houtaru-hime?" Gaara said with a smirk.

Houtaru grimaced "While I do think they deserve the punishment of knowing we haven't quite forgiven them yet, don't think I'm proud of what I did." She got up and walked out to the door. "Send the letters, I'll go collect the other genin I believe would be good candidates."

"And after that?" Takeru asked his sister. He knew she was up to something by the tone in her voice.

She turned back around and gave a little smirk "I think a makeover is in order on my part. Papa and Mama's appearance will already put mental strain on the population of Konoha, no reason for me to show up with a tail."

Takeru jumped up and pumped his fist in the air "Road Trip!"

Nozomi rolled her eyes and got up as well "Immature idiot." She mumbled while walking out of the room.

Takeru blanched "Nozomi-chan, please don't do this to me, baby! I'll be more mature, I swear!" he said while running out after her. Naruto smirked as Gaara growled and he sealed the scroll and gave it to one of his fastest messenger birds. "Take this to Konoha and give it to Tsunade-oba-chan. Make sure that she responds immediately." The bird nodded and Naruto called another one after making a copy of the scroll and the two birds set off: one to the Mist and one to Konoha.

**Ok so next chapter is beginning of part two! I realize that the part of the song was a bit sad and it's supposed to be but I hope I did a good job of it. I'm not good at writing depressing things. **

**Review if you have any questions or comments! **

**I have a sun-burn and it hurts!**


	15. Introduction to Pt 2

Hi People

**Hi People! Let me just start of by saying thanks for reading this far into my story! **

**Now I would like to thank some of my reviewers who have reviewed at least three times: **

**Estel undomeil**

**SakuraKissy**

**Ghostfur**

**Pyx**

**Hinata Uzumaki-sama**

**chester-roxs**

**Blood Zephyr **

**XelaKitsune**

**Squir-san**

**SpriteOfTheLight**

**mangafilipina**


	16. pt 2 Chapter 1

Blood Zephyr: Yup

**Blood Zephyr: Yup! **

**Mangafilipina: read on and yes there will be a chunin exam! (I say that in this chapter) **

**Here's the first chapter for pt 2! It's kinda short so bear with me please, the next chapter will be long, WAY longer. **

Toshiro looked around the small room of the Hyuuga residence he was in. He sighed as the silence continued; even with four people in the room everyone was still silent and apprehensive. It didn't help that he hadn't really talked to or seen them in five years.

He decided to study his friends and see how they've changed over the past years. This was the first time he had been with all of them and actually decided to acknowledge them. He studied them with a stoic expression.

Shika was lounging against the wall with a bored expression on her face. She had grown more womanly over the years and it had done her good. She now wore a simple dark brown kimono with a black sash around it that held her fans and ninja equipment. She hadn't changed her hair style, her brown hair was still in its four pigtails and her hitate was securely around her arm.

Yoshio was standing up behind Michi with his hands on her shoulders. He still wore his dark sunglasses and overly large trench coat – longer than the one he wore when he was a kid – but he wore it unbuttoned so you could see his black fishnet shirt and black ninja pants. His hitate was securely around his head and his ninja gear on a belt on his pants.

Michi was sitting in on a comfy-looking chair looking deep in thought. She hadn't changed anything except for she had also grown more womanly. Michi and Yoshio had been engaged to be married for a time now and Neji had approved, however they were determined to wait until everything in their lives were fairly peaceful – Michi said she knew that was nearly impossible but she would know when the time was.

Kenta walked through the door with a solemn look on his face before walking over and putting his hand around his girlfriend's waist. He now had bulking mussel and his tan hair had grown out so now it was longer than both of the girls'.

"Well? What was the message about Kenta-san?" Yoshio asked and Kenta sighed.

"An alliance with both Konoha and Kiri from Oni. The Onikage suggested that he and the Mizukage come here with a group of genin ninja and have a chunin exam and discuss the terms of the alliances. He somehow knows that we haven't promoted any chunin and suggested two exams: one for the lower level genin and one for the upper level genin. He asked that Tsunade reply immediately. She said yes. The Onikage's coming here." Kenta said in a monotone. Everyone thought about this and knew that they would participate in the exam. They had refused the position of chunin – all too distraught from Houtaru's leaving (except for Airi who hadn't been promoted anyways) – and were still considered genin even though they all had jounin-level talent.

There was silence for a moment before Michi exhaled "He's smart, and he's willing to come all the way here, I think we should be honored."

Kenta gulped but then uttered the question that was on everyone's mind "Do you that they will bring….." he trailed off and everyone looked pointedly at Toshiro was stayed stoic. He didn't need to put hope in his mind, not after he has worked so carefully to freeze himself.

"No, there's not reason to. She's a princess and as far as we know rank never mattered to her." He said with absolutely no emotion what so ever. He knew she wouldn't need rank; she was the Lord of Demons.

Yoshio nodded "If she's a genin than she's an S-rank genin." Toshiro then abruptly left the room, he knew they were about to go into discussion about her and didn't need to hear it.

He swiftly ran to the top of the Hokage Monument and sat down on the Third's head. He looked up at the sky and felt a lone tear fall down his cheek as he saw that there was no moon out tonight – just like when she left.

He hadn't spoken and had barely thought her name since she had left. He stared at the sky and felt another tear join the first. He hadn't cried since that night and it felt good to finally have some form of release.

"_Houtaru-chan"_ he thought and smiled at how sweet the name sounded. He had also grown up in recent years. Even though he was the youngest – all his friends were eighteen while he was seventeen – you could easily call him a man. His hair had grown out a bit but not enough to make it look different. He basically had done nothing but train the fast five years so his mussels were pronounced but even with all that sun his skin was still a moon-lit pale. He had dark bags under his eyes from him nights when he got no sleep and he now wore a sleeveless navy blue shirt with the Uchiha crest on the collar and black pants with matching black ninja sandals. If he had been aware of the outside world over the past five years he would have known that he was quite a lady killer.

The tears continued to poor down his pale face _"Houtaru-chan, Houtaru-chan, Houtaru-chan,"_ "Houtaru-chan" he finally said out loud and smiled as the words ran off his tongue. He decided to try something else "Houtaru-hime." He liked the way the title flowed, if he ever saw…

He choked back when he realized that it was a really big 'if'.

Houtaru glared at her twin brother, who glared back. Houtaru's now blue and white eyes staring into Takeru's blue tinted ones. It had been almost a month since both Konoha and Kiri had responded with positive notions and Konoha had begun preparing for the exams.

She growled at him through clenched teeth "Put. On. The god damn robes!"

"No, you do it." Takeru shot back.

"I can't, I'm a woman for Kami's sake and they know the Onikage's a man. I couldn't pull that off if I tried. My boobs, butt and the fact that I have curves put a major flaw your plan."

And she did. Houtaru had lived up to her expectations and had become more beautiful than her mother in her prime. Her figure was a perfect hourglass and her demon blood had made her into the image of Aphrodite even though she was currently in her human form. Her tan skin was flawless even through the years of torturous training and her hair was flowing gold, having straightened out over the years, fell down to the back of her knees when she had it up like she did now. She still kept her hair in pigtails but instead of the high ones that used to be on either side of her head, her hair was now pulled up at the back of her head, not in low pigtails like Tsunade's but they were higher up and rested just above where she tied her hitate that went on her forehead. She wore black, high-heeled konoichi sandals and would usually be wearing her favorite coat but was currently wearing a simple travel cloak. It was expensive, plain black with a hood and she wore a mask that would go over her nose down to disguise the bottom of her face – which over the past year she had found out looked like her grandmother's: Kushina. She also had a point – even with the cloak on you could still tell she was a woman.

"Well why not just use a jutsu to cover it up?" Takeru asked desperately, his sister had got the reasoning skills out of the two.

"Because we have two Uchiha's who can see the fact that it's an allusion. Besides, we can't go around pulling allusions. The only reason I'm dressing up as Mama and you're impersonating Papa is to test the trust worthiness of the people there. Just put on the robes and you can take 'em off when we get inside the building." Houtaru said with a glare and Takeru sighed.

He slipped on the Kage robes and placed the hat on his head while grumbling "We're over two hours away from Konoha, why do I have to do this now?"

"Because they'll probably have ANBU come and escort us the rest of the way." Nozomi told him and she came and hugged him and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Takeru shot a nervous glance at Gaara, he still remembered the first time Gaara had comforted him about dating Nozomi:

:Flash:Back:

Takeru and Houtaru were walking back home to get Takeru ready for his first date with Nozomi; they had just turned fourteen and Takeru had finally gotten enough courage to ask out the red-head. 

All of a sudden Gaara appeared out of no where and grabbed the byakugan user by the back of his collar and pulled him through the street. 

"Gaara-sensei…." Houtaru started. 

"I won't kill him." Gaara said simply and Takeru started to sweat. Houtaru sighed "No lethal injuries either." Houtaru warned and then waved to Takeru as he got dragged away by Nozomi's father. 

Said red-head walked up behind Houtaru and blanched "What is my father doing, Houtaru-chan?" 

"Well, from the looks of it, he's dragging Aniki by the collar of his shirt through the village and his probably going to hang him upside down in a sand cocoon and threaten him until all the blood goes to his head and he passes out." Houtaru said while shrugging her shoulders and turning to a now white Nozomi and smiled "Come on; let's go get you ready to date my brother. While I think your choice in guys is a little off – Nozomi glared at her friend – that doesn't mean I can't help you get ready, let's go." 

"Una….Gaara-sensei, where are you taking me?" Takeru stuttered out and Gaara shot a glare at him that sufficiently shut him up. 

Everyone stared but they didn't dare interject as the ex-junchuuriki dragged the Onikage's son through the village. About fifteen minutes later said son was handing by his ankle by a rope made out of sand from the stone carving of his father's head and dangling above a drop that would kill anyone if they fell. 

"What are your intentions toward my daughter?" Gaara growled out for the fifth time from where he was sitting on a floating cloud of sand in front of the terrified boy's face. 

"I…uh….I…- Takeru stuttered out, he had not been able to form a complete sentence yet under his sensei's menacing stare. 

"Answer me!" he said while thinning out the sand that currently held the boy to the ledge. 

"I think like her a lot, she's smart and pretty and strong and kind hearted and loyal and nice and really, really beautiful and…and….and….

"Any_ other_ intentions?" Gaara growled out. Takeru blushed a new shade of red finally realizing what his sensei was imposing and, with the added blood that was already in his head from being help upside down plus the shock of Gaara's question, Takeru fainted. 

Gaara glared at the unconscious form of his daughter's affection "Not a very manly trait is it?" 

Naruto laughed "He gets it from his mother."

:End: 

"That reminds me." Takeru said while looking back at his father, who was currently dressed in a simply face mask and travel cloak "You were there the entire time and you didn't help me!"

"**For the love of Kami, stop yelling! I'm trying to take a nap and I will come over there and claw both of your eyes out if you do not shut up!" **Ni-bii hissed at the two causing the rest of the Bijuu to chuckle as the two Uzumaki men blanched. Over the past years Houtaru had been able to figure out how to summon all nine of the demons and have them look like a simple adult animal.

The purple cat then stretched and jumped down in between a brown dog and red fox **"Houtaru-hime, what do you want us to do?" **

Houtaru looked over her nine animals for a minute before nodding to the eight people in different colored robes behind them. "Pair up with your original counterpart and stay with them. Kyuubi, for now just stick next to Tora." Houtaru motioned her head to a girl with tiger-like eyes and hair pulled back into two tuffs at the back of her neck.

"Ok, I'm done." Takeru said before turning around and facing Houtaru who nodded in approval. No one would recognize her brother, hell; no one even knew what he looked like. Even Houtaru had to admit her brother was handsome. He had his father's hair in a bluish-black color but with the same pale skin as his mother. His face looked a lot like Naruto's but his Hyuuga genes covered it up unless you looked really hard.

Takeru fidgeted a bit and Houtaru frowned "Now what?"

"Well, I feel weird. You know as well as I do the next Onikage is going to be you. It feels weird for me to wear these." He gestured to white robe and black and white hat. The robes were like every other Kage's except where the others were a color such as red or blue, Naruto's was black.

Houtaru smiled but it soon turned into a joking smirk "That's why it's called _acting_, dear brother."

"Burn!" Naruto shouted and Hinata slapped him over the head.

"One more thing," Houtaru said to her brother while rummaging through her pack, causing her brother to raise and eye brow at her and she smiled as she pulled out a black bandana. "Put this over your eyes." Houtaru said and handed her twin the cloth.

"Why?" Takeru asked but activated his eyes and did as he was told.

"Because, if anyone looks at your eyes they'll be able to see you're a Hyuuga. That's not a good thing to have happen before we speak to Tsuande-oba-chan." Houtaru said while nodded her approval to her brother before taking her own hair and slipping it inside her cloak and puller both her face mask and hood up. All the hoods on the travel cloaks sufficiently covered their owners' eyes so she didn't have to worry about anything.

"Hey! Why doesn't oka-san have to wear an eye thing?" Takeru pouted.

"Because she's impersonating a ninja, no one's going to ask her questions. You're impersonating the Onikage. You have to great Tsunade and the Mizukage then request we go inside if they don't and then you can go back to being the prince." Houtaru explained.

"Now get in the chair." Houtaru said and pointed to the Onikage's travel chair and Takeru grinned, ever since he was a baby he loved that chair. He got in the chair and a group of four ninja came and hoisted it up on their shoulders.

Houtaru nodded to her head in her father's direction. Naruto nodded and put his hood up and pulled the mask that covered the bottom of his face up before turning to the group of about twenty people. Ten of the ninja here were participating either of the chunin exams. Nozomi, Houtaru and Takeru would be participating in the advanced exam while there were two teams of three plus Tora – who had become Houtaru's personal apprentice – were going to participate in the lower level exam. Tora was going to join up with a three man team to take the exam.

"Ok everyone, from now on until we reveal ourselves you will refer to Takeru as the Onikage and Houtaru as Kouhi-sama(It means 'Queen'). Once we get into the city Takeru will ask permission for our you all" he gestured to the seven lower level genin "to be brought to the place where you will be staying and the rest of us will go to the conference room with the Mizukage and Hokage. For now on, Hinata and I are going to be disguised as two of the high-level genin." Everyone else nodded and Houtaru went to stand on the left side of the chair.

About five minutes of walking later two squads of Konoha ANBU appeared in front of the procession and kneeled. The captain stepped forward and bowed "Onikage-sama, it is an honor to have you here in Fire Country. Lady Hokage has sent us to escort you the rest of the way to Konoha."

Takure nodded and in the most important voice he could manage he nodded and said "Thank you, ANBU-san. Please, we would be most grateful if you would escort us." The ANBU nodded again and the others coward a bit at the sound of the man's voice. Takeru voice had grown very deep over the past five years, he may not have had the motivational moving voice of his father or twin sister but part of his blood was Hyuuga and he had a since of pride that made his voice sound powerful.

Houtaru turned back and exchanged a glance with her parents. They were all thinking the same thing _"Time to go back and face the music."_

**Ok, first chapter of pt 2 done! The next chapter is very important and I think it's going to be long so that's why I stopped here. Plus I have to go do things and they'll take a while so I'll just post now. **

**Review if you have any questions or any comments! **


	17. pt 2 Chapter 2

Tsunade stood in apprehension in front of the Hokage's building

**adngo714: I like the last chapter's length as well, I just kinda start writing and can't stop. .'' it's a problem I have. Thanks for the review . **

**Pyx: thanks for the warning but the problem is I don't want to rate the entire story M because that's the one part that could be rated as such. I'm going to put one of those warnings at the begging that says "Lemon begins here, don't read if you don't want to' things. Like I said before this is for my perverted friends so I don't want to change the entire rating for this one thing. Again thank you! .**

Tsunade stood in apprehension in front of the Hokage's building. She looked around her to see everyone else equally tense. The Mizukae put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she smiled at him thankfully. Every ninja in the village who wasn't out on a current mission was lined up behind the two Kages. The remnants of the Konoha twelve were lined up next to the Hokage as well as their children. The ninja from the Mist were lined up on the other side of the Mizukage, they were all low level genin. Tsunade looked around again and noticed that any members who belonged to the People's Voice of Konoha (That's the group Sakura leads) were not there and that was suspicious. They had been against this alliance from the beginning and she knew they were up to something.

The two Uchiha's were both tense with apprehension. Toshiro knew that there was a chance, no matter how slim it was, that Houtaru could be coming with the Onikage; if not to participate in the exams than just the observe. Sasuke was a little tenser than his son. He knew that _if_ Houtaru _was_ Naruto's child and she _was_ the princess than that made Naruto the Onikage. Both raven haired men had no idea what they would do if the blondes showed up, right now they didn't even know if their best friends _were_ going to show up.

Villagers lined the streets and were gossiping nervously. It was quite exciting to have two other Kages in the village; it was even more exciting to be the first village where the Onikage has bothered to travel to. Everyone was also anxious to see who the mysterious Onikage was. None of them were stupid. They all knew that Houtaru was the Princess of Onigakure and they all had been suspicious from the beginning about the blonde's parentage.

Hiashi looked straight ahead with a small smile on his face and Neji looked at him with a raised eyebrow. For some reason the Hyuuga elder had always known what was happening. When Neji had asked him if he knew that Houtaru was the princess after she left and he had just smiled and said 'Why would you think I knew anything?' and walked off. It had annoyed the Hyuuga Head greatly.

Suddenly a lone ANBU appeared in front of Tsunade and kneeled "Onikage-sama and his company just arrived at the gate, my Lady." Tsunade nodded.

"Tell me ANBU-san, what do you think of the Onikage?" the Mizukage asked the masked man.

"He seems…powerful. He also appears to be blind." The ANBU recalled.

"Why do you say that?" Sasuke asked curiosity peaked. Naruto wasn't blind. And if this man could see his eyes that means he could see his face, which means that if he was Naruto this ninja would have known it.

"He wears a bandana over his eyes but regardless he seems to know where everyone is." The ANBU bowed once more and then flashed away.

Naruto felt his eyes widen as the people of Konoha bowed in respect toward the Onikage's chair as it passed them. He felt pride swell because technically the person in the chair was him but it was his son who was pretending to be him. He couldn't believe it. The village he came from was open of the most close-minded villages in the world. They wouldn't ever been so open to having the mysterious Onikage in their village. He wondered what had happened to change them.

He felt himself straighten up a bit more as they stopped in front of the friends he had left so long ago. They had all grown up so much and had kids! He felt a pang of relief when he saw that Sakura wasn't there, he didn't so much mind her but he knew Hinata would want to beat the shit out of the pink haired girl; she always had.

He knew that Sasuke was a father, but it was still a shock to see his son. He looked exactly like Sasuke, but on further examination he noticed that this boy had dark blue eyes in stead of the black ones of his father. He also looked over Jeraiya and Tsunade with one thought going through his mind: _'You two just won't die will you?' _

Sasuke studied the people heading towards them with appraising eyes. The Onikage was sitting on a chair being carried by four ninja in travel cloaks but they didn't have hoods on so you could see there faces and the flaming swirl hitates they wore. To the left of the chair was a woman figure wearing a plane black cloak with a hood that covered her eyes and a face mask. Walking to his right were three figures also wearing traveling cloaks, two were female and one was male all wearing hoods that covered their eyes. The tallest male also wore a facemask that was the same as the one the female to the left of the chair was wearing. Behind them was a group of three ninja all in plane travel cloaks but these ninja, like the four carrying the chair, didn't have hoods up so you could clearly see the flaming swirl on the metal hitates they all wore. Sasuke mentally added up that that made seven ninja who were participating in the exam but he also wandered what the three ninja in the cloaks next to him were. Were they participants or part of the council? Bringing up the rear of the group was eight people all in different colored cloaks with the kanji for the numbers 1 to 8 on them. They each had different masks on with markings that were the same colors of the cape they wore. Something even more strange was the fact that they each had an animal with them and they were all the same animal that was on there mask except for 3. His mask appeared to be a weasel but there was a turtle riding on his shoulder. That must have been the council, Sasuke reasoned.

The chair stopped in front of the two Kages and Tsunade let out a breath as the tall man stepped out of the chair and she immediately bowed - a gesture which he returned. She looked up at the man and felt her heart break a bit when she saw the man's face. He had no scars on his cheeks and his hair, though it was spiky, was a dark blue-black color and his face was pale. She could tell there was no illusion on him and this was his actual look. She also noticed he did appear to be blind for there was a blindfold over his eyes but he appeared to be looking right at her.

"Welcome to Konohagakure, Onikage-sama, we welcome you with open arms." Tsunade said politely and was pleased to see the man smiling at her.

"It's a pleasure to be here, my Lady. And I can see your words are true by the polite welcoming your people gave me while I came through the city. It is a pleasure. And it's also a pleasure to meat you as well Mizukage-sama, thank you for traveling all the way here per my request." The Onikage said in a warm, deep voice.

The Mizukage nodded "It is my pleasure, considering you considered my country worthy of an alliance with you."

The man laughed "Please don't think that I believe myself any higher than you. I will explain my reasons for keeping my country's borders protected once we get inside, but I can assure you; the only reason I considered you an ally is because of your reluctance to join with the other nations to try and demolish us."

The man's obvious cheery demeanor made both the other kage's smile but suddenly that smile was wiped off their faces as a three kunais came fast at the Onikage but what surprised them more was that none of the other people in the group made any attempts to move and protect their leader. The Onikage caught the kunai as if he was playing a game of easy catch, a smile still on his face, and dropped them.

The Hokage blanched but immediately went into action; she turned towards an ANBU "Go find the culprits immediately! I want them brou-

But she was stopped by a pale hand and turned to see the Onikage smile at her "It's expected and I'm obviously not hurt. Why don't we just head inside so we can talk, however if you still want to put your ANBU to use, would you please be so kind as to have them escort our genin who will be participating in the low level exam to their accommodations? Our higher ones will be there with me for the meeting, if you have no problem with that?"

Tsunade was just so baffled as to why he was taking this so calm "O-of course! But would you mind if a couple of select ninja come into the meeting as well? And if you don't mind I have asked Mizukage-sama to skip this meeting so we can talk about some things that need to be cleared up."

The tall, dark-haired man smiled "Of course, I believe we do have some issues to work out. I hope Mizukage-sama doesn't mind being put out." Only Houtaru caught the teasing tone in his voice directed towards jer and knew he was internally smirking at her and she couldn't wait until he got out of those robes so she could smack him upside the head.

"Well then, why don't we head inside?" Tsunade suggested and Takeru smiled "I would be honored, my lady." He said and extended he arm to her which she took with a slight blush. This man knew how to turn on the charm. His family sweat dropped and Jeraiya looked as if he was about to strangle the imposter Onikage.

As the other Oni ninja were being lead away Houtaru turned and met Kyuubi's eyes and nodded to him. He nodded in return and then fallowed the young ninja to their quarters.

Once they got to the conference room with a low table and dozens of comfy looking cushions and the eight people in masks sat down along with one of the three ninja who had been walking to the left the Onikage while the other three, along with the Onikage himself, were still standing up. The eight animals all seemed to lay next to or behind there respected partner and go to sleep.

"Lady Tsunade, I need to tell you that-

"No please, before you start let me say something." Takeru nodded and Tsunade waited for the people behind her to sit down. **(A/N this is Jeraiya, Sasuke, Lee, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, Shino, Ino, Temari, Toshiro, Michi, Yoshio, TenTen, Neji, Hiashi, Konohamaru, Hanabi, Shika and Kenta. .'' A lot of names) **

"I just wanted to say that we don't want to hold Houtaru-san's presence in the village as something to hold over you. We don't know your reasons for sending Houtaru here but she made many friends and she has been greatly missed." At this point Houtaru's eyes were wide and she was staring intently at Toshiro. All the sad feelings she had had in the past five years all seemed worth it. She thought he looked incredibly perfect. He was toned and he had grown but something was wrong. Something in his eyes was cold; dead and it scared her.

Toshiro felt something and that's what the problem was. The second he had seen the group of ninja he felt something. It was like part of the gaping hole in his chest that he only felt when he allowed himself to feel was closing but he didn't know why. And now they were talking about her! The very person he hadn't seen in five years and that he loved. He had admitting it to himself, god damn it! He loved her and he still didn't know whether she was there or not, even though a little tiny voice in the back of his told him she was but he wouldn't let himself get his hopes up.

Tsunade continued "We just want to know if she's ok. We won't hold anything over her or you. We have lost two great ninja from this village many years ago and didn't realize how much we needed them until they were gone. We would give anything to have them back with us. We sent out search party after search party for them but we could never find them. We would be honored if one day Houtaru could return to us, not to stay but to visit." She sighed after her little speech and Naruto felt his chest swell with pride. He was proud of the villagers for finally getting out of their little rut, he was proud of Houtaru for making a good impression and he was proud of himself for some reason he wasn't smart enough to figure out at the moment.

"I believe you are completely out of line, Tsunade-sama! If those rogues ever came back here they would be executed immediately. The little demon for breaking his exile and kidnapping the Hyuuga heir and the little brat princess for being the damn demon's cohort. Houtaru herself would be shunned for betraying our nation." Everyone turned to the door to see Sakura standing there with a group of about eight aged men and Airi – all looking smug. Tsunade's fist tightened.

Hinata felt herself tense and would have attacked the pink haired woman in front of her if it wasn't for the large hand on her shoulder telling her to wait.

"I believe you are out of line Haruno! I should have you executed yourself! You don't think I know that the assassination attempt was planned by your little group? And I do believe that the decision about what to do with those people is my decision. Like I said before the consequences for attempted association of the Onikage is high." Tsunade hissed out and every one of the people who walked through the door were seized by waiting ANBU.

Naruto then stood up – still in disguise – and walked over to Tsunade and put his hand on her shoulder "There's no need to be so hasty. I wouldn't want to start any riots in your village because of my presence, Tsunade-sama. Might I say that technically, these people didn't actually make an attempted assassination on the Onikage, but an attempted assassination on one of the advanced level genin that came to participate in the chunin exams. A night in jail should be plenty punishment for them." The deep, powerful base voice sent a shiver down everyone's spine who didn't know the man and Tsunade nodded at the ANBU and the ten people were automatically taken away.

Tsunade turned back to the man but didn't have time to say anything as the man continued "Thank you for the kind words towards my daughter. I can assure you that she wasn't sent. She snuck out of the village the morning of her birthday and I didn't see any reason to stop her. I apologize if any of her behavior was inappropriate and take full responsibility. Thank you for being so understanding."

Tsunade shook her head "Of course, none of her behavior was in anyway offending she was excellent but….but then, you are…the Onikage?" Naruto gently took her hand and sat her down on a cushion next to Jeraiya.

"Yes, I am. I had Takeru-san, here impersonate me so if anyone did try anything against me they couldn't be tried for it to the full offence." He said gently and stood back up and gestured to Takeru who waved. "Now, I believe you want to know a bit about who you're dealing with here. Let me first introduce you to my council." The eight people sitting down then removed their mask and everyone in the room froze. Sitting there in a crimson robe with the number 3 on his back was none other than Uchiha Itachi.

Sasuke stared and met the onyx eyes of his brother. He was stuck by something he hadn't felt in years: family love. His brother's eyes were soft and pleading him to understand some unknown fact and he felt his own eyes soften. He nodded a bit at his brother to tell him that they'd talk later and the elder Uchiha gave a slight smile in return that no one except Sasuke would be able to see.

However everyone else in the room was still tense until Itachi himself stood up and bowed "Please forgive me for my past actions but I can assure you that I had none other than the noblest intentions toward this village the night I killed my family."

Naruto nodded "Please sit back down Itachi-san, we will have time for full explanations later." Everyone nodded and couldn't help but feel no hostility towards the raven haired man.

All of a sudden Temari got up and flew across the room into the arms of a man with a tan cloak with the number 1 on his back and she hugged him tightly to her and began kissing his face furiously. "Don't you ever do that to me again! Don't you ever disappear again! Do you hear me little brother!? All this time I had no idea where you were and whether you were ok and it scared me half to death! Do you understand me!?" she shrieked and two arms wrapped around her middle and hugged her back.

"I missed you too. I see you got married and have a child. I'm so happy for you." The voice was calm but sincere and Temari pulled back to reveal a smiling Gaara and she hugged him even tighter to her and he glared at Shikamaru over his shoulder. The glare said 'If I ever hear that you've hurt her I kill you.' Takeru shuddered and looked at the pineapple haired man with sympathy. He'd been on the receiving end of that glare before.

Shikamaru came over and pried his wife away from her brother and shook hands with the red-head who smiled again. "After this is over I need to introduce you to your niece, Nozomi." He gestured towards a girl with teal eyes and short red hair and she smiled at them before looking over at Shika and appraised her new found cousin.

Tsunade cleared her throat loudly and the pair went to sit back down and Gaara sat back down as well. Tsunade looked at the Onikage again and then looked at the woman figure that had meant to appear as the Onikage's wife. "We know that you have a wife, Onikage-san, is this her?" the man turned to look at where Tsunade had gestured and shook his head.

Before he could say anything another figure stood up and walked till she was next to him. "No, I am his wife, Lady Tsunade." Every one stiffened again at the delicate, sweet sound of the voice and the woman took off her cloak to reveal a woman with moon pale skin and long blue-black hair. She was wearing a long, white, feminine overcoat with lavender swirls at the bottom. On the back of the overcoat was the kanji for 'sun,' and 'sky.' She was beautiful and her pupil-less, lavender eyes shown with kindness.

"H-hinata?" came a stutter from Neji and the woman nodded and all eyes turned to the Onikage who smiled and removed his cloak and mask and revealed a young man with tan skin and blond, spiky hair.

"Minato?!" this time it was Jeraiya who spoke out but the young man gave a foxy grin and shook his head.

"Getting senile, you old pervert?" everyone in the room froze and gave the man a once over. He wore a black overcoat with orange flames at the bottom with the kanji for '9' and 'leader' on the back. He was quite handsome and the only way you could tell the difference between him and his father were the three scratch marks on either side of his face.

Tsunade then ran forward with her fist out, as if she was going to punch Naruto but her fist was caught and she wall pulled into a hug but two strong arms and completely broke down as she clutched onto the man's jacket for dear life and cried. He held her tight and rubbed her back in soothing circles as the others just stared in shock.

Naruto was back. Naruto was back and he was the Onikage. Naruto was back and he was the Onikage and Tsunade was crying. Naruto looked over her shoulder with his azure blue eyes and met the shocked black ones of his best friend. Naruto released Tsunade and gave his mother figure a smile "We'll talk later I promise."

She tried to say something "I'm so sorry, I should have stopped them and I should have…" but Naruto stopped her with another hug.

"It's not your fault." He soothed before smiling again. "Let me introduce you to my imposter. Takeru!"

Naruto sweat dropped as he watched his daughter hit her twin over the head. His removed the robes before turning to her and yelling "What the hell was that for?!" Everyone looked at the young man and a smiled appeared on Hiashi's face. He was tall and the same pale as Hinata with obvious Hyuuga genes. He was well built and wore a coat just like that of his parents but his was white with blue spirals on the bottom. His pupil-less eyes were blue tinted and every young girl in the room – except for Houtaru – couldn't help but swoon at how handsome he was.

"For being an ass." The feminine figure answered and Toshiro felt his heart jump-start. He would recognize that voice anywhere even if it had changed a bit over the years. It was crystal clear and beautiful and it belonged to the person he loved dearly.

Takeru looked at his sister and grimace. He knew she had caught him being a smart ass and gave her a grin. "You know mw better than anyone else, don't you?" Toshiro felt a part of him shatter as he heard those words. He didn't stop to think about the fact that the young man could have been Houtaru's brother, he just couldn't think. He felt the hole in his chest ripping at the thought of this man and Houtaru together and he left. Just like that he left. He knew the cloaked woman was Houtaru and he didn't want to see her; it would break through all his barriers and everyone would see him vulnerable and he wouldn't have that.

Houtaru felt her heart shatter a bit as she watched Takeru disappear from the room. She knew it was because of her. She was right. He didn't want to see her. She decided to just get it over with and threw her cloak of and put on her best smile for her friends. Even with Toshiro ignoring her she was still glad to see them.

She smiled at everyone as they gawked at her with looks of shock and happiness on their faces.

She had gotten very beautiful and everyone knew it. They all took noticed of her coat, an article of clothing that seemed to be a thing with this family. It was black in color with golden flames and the kanji for 'demon' and 'firefly' on the back in gold. The one thing that confused everyone was the slit up from the bottom of the middle of the back up to her waist. Something else that everyone else noticed she was wearing was the necklace with the Uchiha crest Toshiro had given her five years ago.

Kenta was the first to get up and give the blond a bear hug and she laughed. "I missed you guys so much!" She said as the other three got up and hugged her as well.

They smiled at her as well but they were weary smiles that she understood "I know you need explanations and I plan on giving them and what better time than now? On the morning of my birthday six years ago I ran off from my village. Mama and Papa came from here so I wanted to see where they grew up but I knew that I couldn't stay for over a year." She then turned to Tsunade and bowed "I'm sorry for lying about what happened to my parents but it was the only way for you to let me stay."

Tsunade smiled "I'm just glad to know you weren't here as a spy."

Naruto was looking over his friends again and decided there was too much tension in the room. "Oba-chan, why don't we talk later? I'll explain everything but first why don't we go get something to eat."

Tsunade felt herself begin to tear up again when Naruto called her by her old name "I agree. It would give everyone a chance to catch up. Where did you have in mind?"

"RAMEN!" the twin yells came from Naruto and Houtaru causing everyone in the room to sweat-drop. Naruto's old friends were glad to know that even though he lead a country and was obviously more mature not, he was still the same Naruto.

Houtaru turned to the eight animals, who were all suddenly at alert "Go find Kyuubi and stay with him and protect the other genin. Now that everyone will know that Papa is back some people may not react that well. I really don't think the people who came in here earlier are in jail."

The nodded curtly and left the room in a flash.

"So Kyu-chan is Kyuubi?" Jeraiya asked simply and Houtaru nodded "so those other animals were….."

"The other eight Bijuu, yes." Houtaru said with a smiled and Naruto sweat dropped as he looked to the stunned faces of his friends.

"You can't just be so blunt about it. People will get scared if you tell them that." He shook his head and Houtaru smiled.

As they headed out of the office both Michi and Shika fell into step with Houtaru, who was walking hand in hand with Takeru. He knew she was nervous and hoped to comfort her. "So Houtaru, who's the guy?" Shika whispered with a blush and Houtaru's eye brow twitched.

"Yea, he's pretty hot!" Michi squealed and there boyfriends, who were walking behind them, frowned and Takeru blushed. Houtaru frowned in annoyance.

"He's my twin brother and if you want to express the fact that he's cute I suggest you take it up with his girlfriend." The blond hissed at her friends. She didn't need to know that he twin was hot. He was her TWIN!

The other two girls turned and met the glaring teal eyes of the red haired girl and blanched. Nozomi took Takeru's arm in her own and pulled him away possessively, causing the boy to blush more.

Shika linked her arms with her two friends as they walked down the street and turned to Houtaru "You owe us an explanation."

Houtaru's joking smile turned kind "After food. Can we go over to your house with the boys, Michi-chan? They need to know to."

Michi nodded "But what about…." She trailed off and Houtaru felt her heart sadden already knowing who she was talking about.

"He already knows" she said sadly. Shika grimaced.

"You're telling me that son of a bitch knew everything this entire time and didn't tell us?!"

Houtaru couldn't help but feel relieved he didn't say anything "Yea, he didn't know who my parents were but he knows everything about me."

This time it was Michi was got mad "Houtaru….I think there are a few things you should know. Toshiro…well…he's been….

"He's been a total jerk with out you here. He's hardly talked to anyone for the past five years. He's trained himself to the point where he's ended up in the hospital because of chakra exhaustion. He's become the top ninja in the village because all of his missions are done so quickly and….ruthlessly. I don't even think he registers them anymore. He's like a moon that has lost his sun." Michi finished and looked pointedly at Houtaru who looked down at the ground, hair falling over her face like a curtain.

Her tone become solemn "He doesn't want anything to do with me anymore. He's moved on and I saw that. He doesn't care about me anymore and I deserve it." Houtaru moved her hand up to grip the onyx tear-drop around her neck – a habit she had developed.

Michi and Shika exchanged a look but didn't say anything. It was obvious she wouldn't be convinced of the fact that Toshiro needed to talk to her just as much as she needed to talk to him easily.

Naruto looked around uneasily as he saw people staring at him and Hinata squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"I need to talk to my family and Takeru needs to come with me." She said softly and Naruto nodded.

"After we finish eating you go talk with them and I'll go talk with Jeraiya and Tsunade." Naruto said and Hinata frowned a bit a pouted.

"I wanted you to come with me to see my family with me. I'm sure my father wants to meet my husband." Naruto chuckled and kissed his wife's hand.

"Naruto-san?" Naruto stopped and turned to look in the direction of the voice and turned to see a very big man staring at him with wide eyes. Naruto couldn't help but recoil a bit. This was one of the people who would give him his 'birthday present' every year. His presents were usually bricks thrown at him or beatings he would get.

However he wasn't scared anymore but it still brought back bad memories. He smiled anyways. "Yes?"

"So you have returned." The man suddenly dropped to his knees and bowed towards him and Naruto felt his mouth drop as other villagers started to fallow the man's lead as well and dropped to their knees in a bow.

"Please forgive us all, we were so wrong to treat you as we have in the past. When you left we were all so sorry! Please find it in your heart to forgive us! We'll do anything!" another villager begged and sounds of similar pleads filled the air and Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see his daughter smiling at him.

"Well? You're public is waiting, trust me when I say that they've been waiting to say that for a while." she said in a light voice.

Naruto smiled and walked over the old man and extended his hand. The man flinched but when he looked up he saw the man extended a hand to him and he took it shakily. Naruto pulled the man to his feet and smiled.

"There's nothing to forgive. You were scared and I was born with a target sign on my forehead. I'm not going to hold anything over anyone. I'm back and I've moved on and if I can, I would like to get to know everyone here." Naruto smiled again and turned back to Tsunade. "Now I'm hungry and I haven't had ramen form Ichiraku's in over twenty years. Let's go eat."

Naruto walked over to Hinata and took her arm. "Shall we?"

Hinata giggled and took his hand as he lead her off leaving all his friends gaping and Houtaru smiling proudly her father. She turned to see Sasuke looking between Naruto and his brother.

"Give them a chance; they have lots to share with you." Sasuke's head snapped up in surprise and he looked at the blond.

"I'll make you a deal." The Uchiha said and Houtaru nodded "I'll talk to both of them if you get my son back." Houtaru's expression turned sad and she nodded. Her head snapped up in alarm as she heard a loud squeal.

"NARUTO! You're back!" she smiled when she realized it was simply Ayame and suddenly Houtaru turned and grabbed her friend's hands and pulled them forward.

"Hurry! If I don't hurry yup, he'll eat more than him and I'll have to pay for it!" she said it with such urgency everyone couldn't help but laugh. They were still tense but for now everything was simple. If only for a few hours.

**They're back! I'm so sorry if that was bad but this was a really hard chapter to write! Next chapter Itachi's story will be explained. **

**If you have any questions review and I'll answer. If you don't have any questions review anyways. **


	18. pt 2 Chapter 3

Pyx: thanks

**Pyx: thanks! And if I get banned, I have ways of coming back! BWAHAHAHA cough ok then. Don't be mad at Toshiro. He thinks Houtaru loves someone else and….yea….he does need a good slap. .**

**Senyor Fier Mensheir****: Thanks a lot for both of your reviews! . **

**Fighting Hime: Thank you so much! And yea….I can't spell…I know .'' spell check doesn't help me either. Thank you! .**

**Tempest Wings: Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are so nice and I was touched! Even though that was probably a rhetorical question I'm going to answer it anyways: I usually get my story ideas from other fanfics I've read but I usually steel my favorite ideas from a lot of different fanfics and mesh them all together and then add my own stuff and writing style and Vuala: Story a la Me! You're review was so encouraging and let me just say thank you again! .**

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**Thanks to all my reviewers!**

**Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. I've had to do things and I want to also get another chapter out on my other fanfic but I won't stop on this one. I like it to much to stop now! **

**I've got another song for you! Many people thought that Toshiro's reaction to Houtaru was a bit…stupid. And it was (I meant it to be) and I thought I should explain sumtin and give you a song! Toshiro, in some part of his mind and even though he knows why she had to leave, thinks it was something he did that made her want to leave. The song is "Everything Changes" by 'Stained.' It also explains a bit how Houtaru feels but not that much. **

Sasuke stared at his older brother with an apathetic look on his face. They were standing on either side of the small clearing where they used to practice together when they were kids.

Itachi sighed, knowing his brother wouldn't talk until he finished so he began:

**(A/N SPOILER ALERT! This next part is in the manga so if you haven't read it I'm sorry but I wanted to use the actual story!)**

"It all started when I was four. At that tender age I witnessed war and let me tell you one think: war is hell."

Sasuke looked at his brother and he knew his brother was telling him this to make sure he was open-minded. Sasuke had never experience war so he wouldn't know exactly what Itachi had seen.

"A few years after the war ended, our clan began planning a coup d'etat and our father was the ring leader." Sasuke felt his eyes widen and shock filled his face "You were left out of it because you were too young but I….I didn't want it to happen. Having experience war I grew up as a peace-seeking man and I knew if a clan like the Uchiha wanted to start a civil war it would upset the very balance Konoha was set on and the entire nation of Fire. The other nations would see it as a chance to attack and result in the fourth ninja war. I joined the ANBU's to keep and eyes on my father and he expected me to feed him information on Konoha to help with his plan but I did the opposite: I gave information to the elders of Konoha. Soon they gave me a mission: to destroy my clan. What could I do? I can't even begin to describe my mental state at that time." Itachi looked down at his feet and his brother stared at him with emotionless eyes.

Sasuke just looked at his brother "So why? Why spare me? Why kill everyone but me!? And then why leave? If it was a mission from the Third why not stay? And why did you come back?! And how the hell did you end up with Naruto?! And why not tell me!? Why did you let me betray my best friend when all this time it was my own family who ruined my life not you!? And why tell me now?!" Sasuke was loosing his temper. He was mad, mad at his father and mad that he had been the reason Naruto had been exiled and it had been for no reason.

Itachi remained calm "I spared you because I love you. You're my little brother and your life was more important than the villages. You were innocent and didn't know anything, I had to leave to spy on Akatsuki but I never lost my love for this village and I returned after the Third died to pay my respects and to tell the give the elders the message: look, I'm alive. I wanted you to hate me, despise me and I wanted you to kill me and become a hero in this village's eyes and live a peaceful life. I never wanted you to learn the truth. You didn't deserve to know that your entire family was trying to start a war."

Sasuke felt his face soften but then he was angry again. "So why tell me now? And why are here as a part of Naruto's council?"

Itachi smiled at his brother with a proud look on his face "I told you because you deserved to know. You obviously gave up on killing me and now I have a life, a wife, a child and another on the way. I can't risk you trying to kill me, plus I have loyalty now to my country. Naruto expects me to be on good terms with you." Sasuke, for the first time in a long time, smiled at his brother.

In a half uncaring, half serious tone he asked "How did you end up with Naruto?"

Itachi sighed "Naruto's decided after he left that he was to collect all of the jinchuuriki and bijuu and seal them away so they could all be happy together and no one would ever try to use their power again. I saw this as a chance to help so I contacted Naruto one night and told him my story. He let me join him and together we destroyed Akatsuki. By this time he had joined forces with all the other jinchuuriki and with them, him, Hinata and me so we defeated them with only a bit of effort. At the time Akatsuki hadn't captured any Bijuu but they had found the location of all of them and we found out that the San-bi didn't have a human container. We found it and Naruto was able to reason with it because of Kyuubi but we needed a way to transport is without drawing to much attention to ourselves."

Sasuke smiled at the thought of his friend reasoning with a giant three-tailed demon turtle. If anyone could do that it would be Naruto. "So you offered to be the one they sealed the San-bi in?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi nodded "I trusted Naruto; he was the one to come up with the temporary sealing process. I must say it was very interesting have a turtle-fish thing trapped in my conscious talking to me for a few years. He was apparently very lonely and the power was…incredible. Luckily for me Naruto found a way to keep me stable or I would have died." Itachi shuddered a bit as he remembered the immeasurable power that had racked through his body and nearly driven him insane.

Sasuke looked at his brother for a second "So…I guess…I owe you an apology. I'm sorry, can you forgive me?"

Itachi smiled and beckoned his younger brother over to him with his hand. Sasuke walked forward carefully and when he got close enough felt his older brother's fingers on his forehead as the older Uchiha flicked him. "There's nothing to forgive, little brother. You grew up! Hell, you have a kid! If that wasn't an event that signifies some sort of apocalypse I don't know what it."

Sasuke scowled and rubbed his forehead. He was about to retort when he heard a small chuckle and whirled around to see the Onikage standing there with an evident smirk. "I see you two are getting along. I must say I'm impressed Itachi-san."

Itachi bowed "Arigato Naruto-sama, now if you'll excuse me I will take my leave." With a nod in his younger brother's direction Itachi disappeared.

The two men looked at each other, both coming to a silent agreement and then disappeared.

At the Hyuuga manor the four friends were all staring at Houtaru open mouthed.

"So, you're like a demon lord? Like the nine Bijuu?" Kenta asked and Houtaru shook her head.

"They are considered the Nine Demon Lords but I am THE Demon Lord. I have power over the nine of them. You remember Kyu-chan don't you?" Houtaru explained.

Shika was the first to make a connection "Kyu as in Kyuu_bi_?!" Houtaru nodded.

"I'm sorry you guys. I can understand if you want to distance yourselves from me. I'm pulling you into the world of demons here." Houtaru said putting on a fake mask of happiness.

Michi smiled "Why? We have the Lord of Demons on our side and you're our friend. I'm amazed that you trusted us enough to even tell us!"

Houtaru smiled "It's not like it's a secret. Everyone in my village knows."

"Well I feel very out of the loop now. But wait, for your whole village to know that must mean they're pretty open-minded people." Shika noted thoughtfully.

Everyone looked at Houtaru for a second when she didn't respond. When she noticed all their looks she nodded and continued "Actually most of our population is made up of people who have run from their homes or exiled. A good number of them are missing-nin and about a half have some form of demon blood or relation. That's actually the main reason why my father did want to open the country before now. If someone saw that our population was a bunch of missing nins that would have been a nightmare." Houtaru shook her head at the thought.

The others in the room lapsed into silence. This was a hell of a lot to take in.

"But Iwa and the others attacked anyways." Yoshio observed and Houtaru grimace.

"Yea, not exactly their proudest moment but it did allow us to see who we could trust and who we couldn't." Houtaru said with a foxy grin. Shika's eyes narrowed. She knew her old friend was hiding something.

Realization dawned on her "It was you." Houtaru lowered her eyes as everyone else looked between the blond and the brunette with questioning looks.

"You always were the smart one." Houtaru mused before looking up and nodding "Yes, it was me."

"What was you? What are you two talking about?" Kenta asked in an impatient voice that he had inherited from his mother.

It was Shika who answered "The weapon. The big black masses of power and the demonic presence, the thing that destroyed the army of ninja that was attacking Oni. It was all you. I should have figured it out sooner, now that I think about it it sounds just like your chakra arms." Her voice was awe struck and the other's immediately looked back at Houtaru who kept her face down.

"It's not like I'm proud of it." She muttered.

"Well, I'm just glad we have you on our side." Yoshio said breaking the awkward silence that had ensued and Houtaru sent him a grateful smile.

The other's nodded. "Seriously, I'm not going to judge you because of it. It's who you are and I think it's amazing. You must have seriously awesome control. Just remind me to never try to fight you." Kenta said with a smile.

"Aww! Thanks guys!" Houtaru said her blue eyes watering as she ran over to hug the two boys. As she embraced them they both blushed a bit, they were still trying to get used to her new looks…she certainly wasn't a kid anymore.

"Ok! That's enough you two." Shika seethed as she grabbed Kenta and pulled him back.

"Sorry." Houtaru laughed and soon they all began laughing again. They were soon interrupted by a knock on the door. It opened to reveal a maid who bowed.

"Lady Hinata has asked for her daughter to join her and her son downstairs and Lord Hyuuga has requested the presence of his daughter and her friends." She said.

"Arigato." Houtaru said and the maid returned the blonde's smile. She couldn't help it - the blond girl's smile was infectious.

The maid left. Shika and Michi squealed like young school girls "Takeru-kun's here!" Houtaru sweat dropped as they began babbling on and on and on about her _brother_. _EWWW!_

Michi was the first to stop with a calculating look on her face "But wait a minute, if your mother's Lady Hinata that means…" she trailed off.

"Yup! I'm related to Hyuuga and we're cousins!" Houtaru said with a smile.

Shika smirked "HA! I win!" she said pointing at Michi.

"Win what?"

"If Takeru-kun's your cousin that means he's off limits to you!" Shika boasted and Michi frowned and the girls started a bickering match causing the other three in the room to sweat drop again.

"You realize that Takeru's engaged…well he has a girlfriend but it's inevitable. And Nozomi will probably kill you both if you try anything with him. Now let's go downstairs and see what everyone wants." Houtaru said and dragged her two friends out of the room.

Kenta looked to his friend "We've been upstaged haven't we?"

Yoshio looked at him and nodded before they both dropped their heads in defeat. They knew it was permanent but it was still a big blow to their male ego.

Houtaru walked into the front room to see her mother, her brother, Neji, TenTen, Hanabi and she smiled as she saw her grandfather. She knew he had always known who she was.

"Come in Houtaru, we were just catching up with your mother here." TenTen said with a smile.

"As well as getting acquainted with your brother." Neji added, he had easily seen how Takeru was Naruto's child even though he looked so much like Hinata.

The others were all in the room by this point. Michi studied her new found cousin and her white eyes met his. "So, you have byakugan." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes, but I'm not the only one." Takeru said motioning to Houtaru who glared at her brother. She hadn't gotten to that part yet, damn him.

They all looked at Houtaru in shock and she sighed. This was way too much for anyone to explain and anyone to remember. "It's not full-blooded byakugan like Aniki's. My demon blood altered it so it's a bit more…"

"Deadly." Takeru finished for her. No one asked.

"So does this mean you're the true heir to the Hyuuga clan?" Michi asked bluntly and Takeru shook his head.

"It's not about inheritance; it's about whose fit to run a clan." Takeru said and Hiashi smiled as he reminded him of his father.

"We'll have to battle it out sometime then." Michi said with a smirk. She loved a challenge and the Onikage's son would certainly be one. Plus the fact that he was Houtaru's brother added to the fact that she wanted to beat him.

Takeru smirked and exchanged a look with his sister before looking back at Michi "I think that could be arranged."

Houtaru felt a pair of eyes on her and she turned to see her grandfather staring at her. A small smile formed on his lips and his eyes seemed to grow soft as his white pupil-less eyes met the pearl pupiled blue of his granddaughters. He was the only grandparent she had ever had to speak of and she felt a special connection to him.

She was happy. Her friends had accepted her and she had a prominent feeling that everything was going to be ok. She fingered the onyx teardrop on her neck. She needed to talk to Toshiro. But…did he even want to see her?

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Two figures stood across from each other in Training Field Three. They weren't glaring at each other merely studying the other. There was a silent agreement between the two: no jutsus. It would attack too much attention….and probably destroy half the surrounding area.

Sasuke was the first to make a move as he drew a kunai and motioned for the other to do the same. Naruto smiled, he was excited about this spar. He hadn't had a good challenge, beside his children, in years. Naruto got into a defensive stance and also drew out a kunai but it was different than Sasuke's – it had three points and was oddly shaped.

And then it began. They both seemed to disappear as they rushed at each other at a speed to fast for normal eyes to follow. The sound of steel on steel was heard as the kunai clashed together before they both disappeared again only to repeat the action again. Soon kicks were flying and punches were being dealt as well in a speeding flurry of limbs.

After about fifteen minutes of this they landed about fifteen feet away from one another; both in defensive stances. Sasuke scowled when he noticed that his breathing was heavier than his friends but besides that neither showed any sign of fatigue.

Sasuke saw Naruto getting ready to lunge at him again but he was ready to talk. The spar had been his idea because he hadn't been ready to talk yet. He put his hands up in silent defeat and Naruto nodded. They bother walked over to the three training logs. Sasuke leaned against the one on the furthest left while Naruto sat himself up on the middle one.

The silence drawled out, neither really knowing what to say but knowing they had to say something. It would be good just to get it done with quickly, like a band aid, and then move on. They both were fine with that but had no idea what to say. More silence.

Naruto knew that Sasuke wanted to be the one to break the silence so he waited. He almost jumped when he finally heard his friend speak. "I looked for you."

"I know."

"I'm sorry for what happened and would do whatever I could to just go back and change it."

"I know."

"I was an arrogant, power-hungry bastard and I owe you my life. You saved me from myself and gave me my life back."

"You're welcome." Naruto tried his best to hide the bit of humor that came with Sasuke insulting himself. The raven noticed and glared at him but otherwise ignored his friend's antics.

"I will always think of you as my brother." Sasuke sighed as he finally felt a giant weight leave his chest. It was over; short and simple. There was nothing else to say, both of them were ready to move on anyways.

"And I you." Naruto sighed and leaned back on his arms, enjoying the new found serenity that came with having your best friend back. "So I guess I put you through hell, huh? Sorry about that." Naruto said, smirking at the sky.

"Yea, did a really number on me. Apology accepted but only because I know you would have done the same for me if Orochimaru had gotten me." **(XD Oh he has no idea) **Sasuke said wile leaning back and a smirk appeared on his face "You should be apologizing to my son. Your daughter has had him wrapped around her finger from day one."

At this Naruto laughed "Ironic isn't it?" Sasuke nodded "So how's parent life treating you? Your son reminds me of you. Looks like he has something shoved so far up his ass he can't get it out."

Sasuke glared "I could say the same thing about Houtaru. She's smart but I know where she got her brains from."

Naruto laughed again "I guess I owe you a thank you, I hear you took good care of her when she was here."

The raven got a bemused look on his face "She's a good cook but she had a very interesting sleeping arrangement."

"Oh?"

"Yup, we gave her her own room but she ended up sleeping with Toshiro every night. It was actually quite cute. You're daughter was also quite the apple of many boys eyes her age when she was here." Sasuke couldn't help but smirk some more when Naruto lapsed into silence. "What's wrong? The great Onikage lost for words?"

Naruto's head snapped up "Shut up, Teme!"

Sasuke smirked again and stared up at his friend "Dobe."

That night there was a big celebration to celebrate the beginning of the chunin exams. Almost everyone celebrated and had fun, the only ones who didn't join in were the PVK but no one paid any mind.

Naruto and Hinata spent the entire night with their old friends while Houtaru was determined to make her brother and Nozomi become friends with her friends from Konoha. The blond also introduced the other ninja from Oni and praised Tora highly as her apprentice.

Once she felt a pair of eyes burning through the top of her head and turned to see a dark figure staring at her from the top of the Third's head. She grimaced then turned away before seeking her brother's arms for comfort. Toshiro didn't want to talk to her and she would give him that, it was the least she could do for giving him so much pain. She didn't deserve him.

Said raven felt his breath hitch when he saw his Houtaru run into the arms of the tall, dark-haired man next to her. She didn't want him anymore, she had moved on. But he couldn't blame her, she deserved so much more than him.

Their worlds, as well as everyone's around them, were about to be shaken up and taken for a ride.

…**Sorry if that kinda sucked. I couldn't figure out another way to do all the things that needed to be said. And yea both Houtaru and Toshiro are being idiots, I realize this. **

**PVK: People's voice of Konoha. This is all the people who still hate Naruto and stuff. It's led by Sakura.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter out a bit faster…this one took me a wile. **

**If you have any questions ask and I shall answer. **

**I love reviews! **

**May you all be blessed by the great god of…something you like. Such as chocolate! But if you don't like chocolate pick something else. .**


	19. pt 2 Chapter 4

**Aicirret: Yea, I'm really just that bad at spelling. I do double check my stuff on my own and I usually catch more mistakes than are in the story. English is my first language but it doesn't seem like it when I type. .'' anyways thank you so much when you review! And I usually update every few days but lately my mom's been making me read for school or 'get out and enjoy the sunshine' and that gives me less time to type. Thanks again! .**

**Estel: . Oh yea, when Toshiro finds out Takeru's her brother he's going to feel like an idiot…a complete and total**_**idiot**_**. Go him and his little emo corner he inherited from his father but I promise I'll pull him out of it….eventually. .**

**SakuraKissy: No they aren't going to be rivals, they just both like a good challenge. And about the whole heir thing…well, I don't plan on making Takeru the Hyuuga heir but who do you think will win in a fight: him or Michi? Thanks again for you reviews! .**

**FANGIRL OF SASUNARU HOTNESS: Yea…it is sad but I didn't want to put the whole 'dramatic reunion and then everything's ok with the world.' I wanted more of a story than that. But they will get back together but it's going to take…let's just say they choose to do things the hard way. **

**Pyx: Thanks for thinking it didn't suck! And thanks! .**

**Mangafilipina: Yea…the thing is that Toshiro doesn't even know it's her brother. He didn't stay around to find out and won't ask so he thinks that Takeru is Houtaru's boyfriend or fiancé. Basically he doesn't want to ask. **

**SORRY: this chapter took so long for me to get done! I guess it's just because I've now mapped out most of the rest of the story so I'm going into my little phase of 'I don't want to be done with it'. It make me sad v.v ah well, I'm just going to suck it up and try to get as much done before school starts again. Plus I just moved. **

Toshiro looked at the Forest of Death with an indifferent look on his face. He then looked around at all the upper-level genin that were all waiting around for the first part of the exam to begin. In all he counted thirty teams, a few from Konoha, a few from the Sand and some Mist ninja, as well as two teams from the Grass who had decided to come here despite the presence of the Onikage. He also noticed the Oni ninja weren't here yet as well as the proctor.

He sighed and tried to ignore the pang when ever he thought of Hotaru and that….guy. He was standing with his old friends and Airi, who was babbling on and on about how her mother was about to win some sort of fight. He didn't care. He would have been standing by himself had it not been for Yoshio and the fact that his team was talking to him.

Yoshio had agreed to be on a team with him and Airi for the first part because it required at least a three man cell. Yoshio had agreed because, out of his team members, he was the one most likely to get along with both Toshiro and Airi. Shika wanted to punch Airi, Michi wanted to punch Toshiro and Kenta worked best with Shika and most of their attacks were synchronized so Yoshio had agreed to it.

Suddenly everything seemed to grow quite and tense as three figures walked into view, two of which had long over-coats on and the third had a large gourd on her back. Everyone knew that these three meant no harm but that didn't stop them from stepping back a bit as the three Oni ninja walked past them. The figures were intimidating as well as the fact that they all seemed to radiate power.

Toshiro did everything not to look at Hotaru, who was walking in the middle of the trio and was very hard to miss with her long, golden pigtails, so he studied the other two. The girl was very pretty and had short, slightly spiky red hair and teal eyes. She had on grey pants and a tan, sleeveless shirt with fishnets underneath going down the length of her pale arms. She also had on a clay red sash that wrapped around her middle and went over her shoulder so as to hold the gourd to her back. He also noticed the Oni hitate that she wore around her waist. Her face was apathetic but it held a certain look that said 'get in my way and I'll kill you and won't think anything about it later.'

He then turned to study the male and found himself glaring at him. The boy – man – was taller than him by a couple of inches and wore a short-sleeved, white coat with blue swirls on the bottom that opened in the front to reveal his toned chest covered by a fishnet shirt and his black cargo pants. He also wore an Oni hitate around his neck. He had pale skin and light blue, pupil-less eyes and dark blue-black hair that fell in spikes around his face. He glared at the man and felt himself becoming extremely jealous of him and his obvious good looks and the fact that he was obviously close to Hotaru.

He felt a set of eyes glaring at him and his head instinctively turned to meet the angry black and golden eyes of Houtaru. He kept his face apathetic but he couldn't help his eyes from looking at her, this was the first time he had seen her without a long traveling cloak on in years. He must say he was surprised to see that she was in her human form in stead of her demonic one.

She was beautiful, even when she was glaring at him. Her tan skin was flawless and her face was still it's cute round shape but it still looked older and more defined while the whisker marks on either side of her face were darker. She wore a coat that was identical to the man's, which made him even more jealous, except her was black with golden flames across the bottom and a long slit of the back that ending just below her waist. It was also open to reveal she was wearing the same outfit she had worn when they were kids: a short-sleeved, black, off the shoulder mesh shirt that ended two inches below her chest over a long-sleeved fishnet shirt that covered her stomach and arms with black pants that only came half-way up her calves. He thought her longer hair complemented her as it fell just below where her pants ended and he knew it would be longer when it was down. Her hitate was tied just below her pig-tails at the back of her head and the long black fabric fell to rest in between her shoulders. She was beautiful and seeing her like this he thought she looked like an angel. He felt happy for the first time in years just looking at her, even if she was glaring at him.

Then it occurred to him that the reason she was glaring at him was because he had been glaring at the boy. He glared back at her before quickly looking away to hide his hurt with a mask of indifference.

"Hey you three! What took you so long?" Michi asked as they walked over to stand with the group.

"We were just taking care of a few things." Takeru told them. Toshiro's ears perked up a bit but no one noticed.

"Like what, Takeru-san?" Kenta asked him.

"Nothing you need to know about." Nozomi said in an uninterested way. It didn't sound at all rude or mean, it just sounded dismissive.

"Airi-san, Toshiro-san, have you two met Takeru-san and Nozomi-san?" Yoshio asked and motioned to the two ninja in turn.

Airi turned her head away with her nose up and Toshio 'hn'ed.

"Can I kill the one with the ugly hair? She's beginning to get on my nerves." Nozomi asked Hotaru. Everyone stared wide-eyed at the girl. Not because she had asked to kill Airi, but because her tone was again dismissive but the question was honest.

"Later." Hotaru mumbled, she didn't need this at the moment. She was already high-strung as it was at the moment and the fact that Toshiro had glared at her brother and now this didn't help at all.

She remembered back to the previous evening and just needed to hit something:

:Flash:Back: **(Haven't had one of these in a while)**

Hotaru sighed as she walked through the street on her way to the compound where the people from her country were staying while in Konoha. She was bored. She had already eaten and the chunin exams started tomorrow so she didn't feel like doing any last minute training. 

The people in charge had decided to keep the lower-level exam the same as the original: a written part, field part and then fighting part. But for the upper-level exam they had decided that they were just going to have two sections: a field and then a tournament. They had decided this since most of the upper level genin were probably going to be promoted anyway and that they were going to make the field portion so only a maximum of three teams could get to the second part. (Hotaru had been spying on them) 

She was now trying to busy her brain with ways of how to get her team and then all of her friends into the final round. She knew one of the points of an exam this limited in people who were going to pass was to join up with an opposing team to pass. 

Her head was beginning to hurt a bit from all the thinking when all of a sudden she heard a big explosion and her head jerked up in alert and she felt her eyes narrow in anger as she saw that the smoke from the explosion was rising from the direction of the compound where the rest of the younger ninja from Oni and her family where sure to be. 

She felt a wave of anger hit her as she sped towards the compound. 

At said compound the smoke was still burning and the entire entrance of the building had been blown to ruble but the back where the rooms were and all of their possessions still looked intact. 

Naruto and his council stood outside with Tsunade, Jeraiya and a number of other ninja including all of Hotaru's friends. About a few feet away from the ruble stood a group of about a dozen figures in masks and the one in the front was holding a kunai to Tora's neck. The other younger ninja had all been able to take refuge behind Naruto but the masked figure had grabbed Tora at the last second. Tora could have easily escaped using her demon blood but Hotaru had given them all orders not to fight if this situation came but to just stay still until either they were released or there was no chance of them being released. 

The nine bijuu were all in attacking position in front of Naruto, all of them snarling and barring their teeth but none of them nor anyone else dare attack for fear of an all out brawl. Regardless of their current form they all looked feral. 

"What is the meaning of this?!" Tsunade bellowed. 

"The PVK has decided that we no longer wish to harbor these ninja in our village, we order them gone immediately or else we will kill them!" one of the masked figures spoke out. 

"Now, agree to leave or we slit this girl's throat!" the head ninja shouted. 

"But Ka-san! You said we were just going to tell them to leave! You said we weren't going to hurt anyone!" Airi said loudly ripping her mask off her face and showing a look of horror in her eyes. She was a dits but she did have some since of moral after all. 

Sakura pulled Tora's hair and angled her neck upwards "Things change! Now! This is not negotiable! Agree to leave or else!" 

"You do realize that you are now guilty of treason and attacking the Onikage: offences to which the consequences are death. If you kill one of our ninja we will have no choice but to attack you immediately after her blood is spilled." Gaara said in a bored yet somehow threatening tone. 

"There is no treason for killing a mere genin, they die in the field everyday! Besides, the PVK makes up a good fraction of the city, you wouldn't want to start a civil war would you?" Sakura said and applied a bit more pressure to Tora's neck a drop of blood appeared. The young girl winced a bit but made no sound.

"Will you not compromise at all Haruna-san? I'm sure we could work something out if you would just put the girl down." Naruto asked in a proper voice. The ninja around him were all tense and he wanted to avoid as much conflict as necessary. 

"Onikage-sama, what are you doing? Negotiate with these people?" Nii whispered in his ear. 

He nodded "Just until we can get the girl away from Sakura and restrain her accomplices. Then we can focus on what we're going to do next." 

Sasuke leaned over to Naruto "How are we going to do that without causing too much damage? This is a street and there are pedestrians and onlookers everywhere." 

Suddenly the nine snarling animals seemed to tense but then relaxed and seemed to bow a bit as a giant wave of killer intent washed over the area. The sky seemed to darken a bit and a few people shuddered at the feel of pure demonic presence washed over them. Little did they know this is wasn't even half of what Hotaru could pull off. 

Tora also relaxed a bit because she knew she was safe. She smirked "You made Hotaru-hime very angry, you really are an idiot aren't you?" 

"Why you little- 

But Sakura was cut off by a giant mass of black chakra shooting up from the ground and wrapping around her middle. She winced in pain as it burned her. She yelled for everyone to attack but more masses of chakra shot out of the ground and wrapped around the other ninja and hoisted them at least eight feet in the air. 

Hotaru landed in front of the group in a slight crouch. She had managed to keep her human form but her canines and nails were a bit more pronounced and her eyes were her demonic black with gold slits. 

Sakura smirked "Looks like you have another abomination in the family, Naruto." She winced as the chakra tightened around her waist a little more. Tora got up from the ground and ran so she was standing just behind Hotaru. 

"The only abomination I see here is you. Holding someone obviously weaker than you as a hostage from a surprise attack, we aren't in the middle of a war here. You're lucky I don't just kill you here and now, I can assure you that you wouldn't be greatly missed." Hotaru growled out with a glare. 

"Have Nii-bi heal that cut." Hotaru told Tora with a voice that told no one to mess with her at the moment. Tora nodded to her sensei and ran back to where the purple cat was waiting for her. 

"What do you have to say for your-self, Haruna?" Tsunade shouted out. She knew Naruto wouldn't hold it over her but she also knew that if he was to reject an alliance with Konoha because of this then the other nations would attack Konoha and they would be royally screwed. 

Sakura opened her mouth to speak but Airi, who Hotaru hadn't bothered to restrain, beat her to it. "Please forgive us!" She said and walked forward so she was just a few feet in front of Hotaru and she bowed. 

"I had no idea she was planning to hurt anyone. Our original plan was just to blow the entrance in hopes to scare you away. I apologize and we will take any punishment necessary." She said. She wasn't stupid. She knew that they would all be killed if they were tried for what they had done regardless of their organization.

Sakura was mad now "No! I demand a fight!" 

"How about this? One of your people versus one of mine and if you win we will leave but if we win we stay here and you people promise not to attack for the duration of the exam." Naruto reasoned. It was the best way to compromise plus he knew that every single one of the people he had with him could easily defeat any of the ninja on Sakura's team. 

"Fine, but I get to pick the fighters!" Sakura yelled out, a bit over confident in her abilities. She was strong. She had inhumane strength and was a pretty good genjutsu user. **(a/n: I'm giving her the same skills she has in the manga and anime even though she didn't train under Tsunade.)**

Naruto nodded "as you wish but the two fighters must be of equal status. If one of your older ninjas fight they must face an older member of our party. You may pick any opponent you want for your fighter as long as the fight is equal." _Or appears equal._ He added in his mind

Sakura nodded "the opponent from the PVK will be me and my opponent shall be…" she looked aver the group of Oni ninja before her before smirking "Hinata-sama." She said drawing out the 'sama' as a sneer.

The woman in question smiled sweetly but if you knew her it was smug. She had always wanted to be the one who taught Sakura a lesson and she wasn't about to let this chance pass her by. She bowed in mock respect "I would be honored to be your opponent, Sakura."

Naruto nodded. "As per your request, Haruno, the fight shall be held tomorrow, if that's ok with you Tsunade-sama." Naruto asked. 

"No! The exams begin tomorrow and I want you to be gone by then." Sakura yelled out. She obviously didn't realize her threatening was lessened by the fact that she was still dangling eight feet in the air by black chakra. 

Hotaru smirked "I do think that my father has your best interest at heart. Seeing as how those burns will take a while to heal." Hotaru said and unceremoniously dropped the ninja to the ground and straightened back up, her eyes now back to their human blue and white. 

She ignore Sakura's glare and walked over to where Nii-bi was healing Tora "Is she ok? I'm sure that blade had poison on it."

The purple cat nodded "She's fine. Didn't even leave a scar." 

Hotaru nodded and looked at Tsunade with a foxy grin "I suppose we're going to have to find a new place to sleep, huh?" Tsunade laughed nervously and nodded.

:End:

Hotaru knew her mother would win; there really was no question about it. However the fight was starting later and she had really wanted to be there just in case Sakura tried anything that would seriously injure her mother. But she knew Hinata could take care of herself. He father had also agreed not to press charges against the ninja that attacked them. In reality there was really no danger for the Oni ninja for they had all been specially trained to deal with demon attacks so normal attacks weren't really that much of a problem.

She looked up and saw her friends concerned looks and realized she had only said one word since her team had gotten there. She looked at the six Konoha ninja and decided now was a good a time as any to reveal her plan. She had come up with a good one that insured their passing on to the later exam.

She was about to open her mouth when there was a loud poof and the proctor appeared at the front of the group. It was a man with an indifferent look to him and a bandana on his forehead.

"Good Morning, my name is Shokujo and I am your proctor for the first section of the upper-level Chunin exam. I don't really feel like an introduction speech so I'll just get straight to the good stuff. Here are the rules short a sweet: the point of this exam is to gather three scrolls: one mind scroll, one spirit scroll and one infinity scroll." He said holding up three scrolls. The first was a dull green color, the second a dark blue and the third a vibrant purple. "You will sign some release forms and when you turn them in you will be given a locator devise." He held up his own little yellow devise and bleeped it on. On the screen was a big circle, which was a map of the forest of death. On the map were three highlighted areas around the forest "These highlighted areas are where you will find the scrolls. Each collection of scrolls is heavily guarded however there are more than enough mind and spirit scrolls to go around. _However_,"

Hotaru felt her ears perk up a bit. She knew it sounded too easy and felt herself smirk as the proctor continued, she loved a challenge. "There are only three infinity scrolls so that means only three teams maximum will be able to pass."

Shouts of protest were being shouted and Toshiro felt his eyes roll. They were being such babies. The proctor found this funny as well as he smirked "That's right. And I should let you know something else. They are the most heavily guarded scrolls and you will find them on the top floor of the tower in the center of the forest and only one person per team can enter the tower. Once that one person has the scroll he or she will be responsible for it for the rest of the exam.

"To pass, your team must have an infinity scroll and one of the other two scrolls. However, if you team fails to get both of the other scrolls then you must select one member of your team to fail or if you only succeed in getting the infinity scroll only one member of you team will pass. You have exactly four days to go in, get the scrolls and get back out. Ninja will be waiting around the perimeter to collect the winner's scrolls."

The man got a smug look on his face "However that's all the rules there are. There is no such thing as foul play and you may get killed. But hey, that's what the release forms are for. Once everyone signs them we'll get started."

Hotaru exchanged a glance with Nozomi who nodded. Her team mates knew of her plan but Nozomi had been against it, saying that it would slow them down. Hotaru knew she was right and that they could probably get all three scrolls in a matter of hours but she couldn't risk having her friends fail. She felt as if she owed them plus she cared about them.

She got her team the forms and signed them quickly before turning them in a handing the tracking devise to Takeru. She then walked over to the rest of her friends who were still standing with Airi and Toshiro.

They were surprised to see that she was still serious. "What do you want?" Airi quipped.

"She's trying to make sure you don't fail this exam so I would suggest you shut your mouth before I kill you." Nozomi growled out and Airi paled before turning to Hotaru again.

"Is that anyway to strike a deal?! You're trying to get us to do something for you and you can't even control your teammates! While I bet that-

"Shut up and listen, Airi." Toshiro's voice was deep and dangerous as he stared intensely at Hotaru who looked back with the same intensity. The exchange was unnerving to everyone around them as it seemed a current was passing between the two.

Hotaru didn't look away from Toshiro as she spoke, her voice clear and even "The places where the scrolls are stored are a ways away from each other. Seeing as such, that means that it would take over time limit for each team to retrieve it taking into account the obstacles in between plus the fact that all three sets of scrolls are heavily guarded. Also, since there are only three infinity scrolls and that's what it takes to pass most likely everyone would be heading there first to get a claim on one of them. However that would slow the entire team down considering it's the most heavily guarded area and the injury rate is high. Everyone else has probably figured that out as well."

The friends all nodded, having thought about this before hand, and Hotaru continued however she still didn't break the gaze between her and Toshiro. "So what I'm suggesting is that all three of our teams join forces and spilt up into three groups, one person from each team. That way all three scrolls can be gotten quickly plus that means that the team sent to get the infinity scroll will insure all of us passing. Also you would be working with the ninja from Oni. How many people would you think would dare confronting us if they had the choice?"

"You would separate from you team? Have us separate our teams and put full trust in each other?" Shika said, she was obviously stunned by Hotaru's plan. Yes, teaming up was a good idea but having the entire team separate? It was a quick, efficient idea but it was dangerous.

Hotaru pulled her gaze from Toshiro, who continued staring at her face, to look at Shika. "Yes. I have full trust that both Nozomi and Takeru can easily defend themselves against everything in the forest, including other shinobi. And, yes, the teams would be splitting up but they wouldn't be alone. They would have two other people with them making it look like they were a full team."

"What my teammate fails to mention to you all is the fact that she's making this deal for your benefit." Nozomi said in an unconcerned tone.

"What do you mean by that?" Kenta asked.

Nozomi settle her gaze on him "Hotaru is simply making a deal with you because, for some reason unknown to both me and Takeru, she wants you to pass the initial exam. Personally, I think it would be easier to just kill you now and get rid of the competition; however I agree only because I think having a challenge in the upcoming tournament would be enjoyable. So you should be thanking her for making a deal that we don't have to make."

"Basically what she's saying is that our team could easily pass the exam without your help and Hotaru is offering because she cares that you guys pass the exam." Takeru explained to them. Nozomi cleared her throat a bit and Takeru rolled his eyes "And she finds you to be strong opponents and she has agreed to help you out because she wants a good fight once we all make it to the second half of the exam."

"That's not what I meant. You were supposed to tell them that I wanted to kill them and I would find it productive and not a waste of my time." Nozomi whispered to her boyfriend. It had been a long since decision that Takeru would help with Nozomi's…social interactions, considering most of the time she would end up scaring people.

Takeru leaned in a little closer "I did but I made it sound nicer."

"Good. Thank you." Nozomi said giving him a half smile.

"Anytime."

"Let's go, people! Five minutes until the gates open!" the proctor yelled from his place at the front of the group.

Hotaru turned and shot a glance in the direction of the forest before looking back at the slightly stunned Konoha shinobi. Though most didn't hear the exchange between the two Oni nin that didn't mean Nozomi's words and Takeru's interpretation of the red-head's words didn't shake them a bit. What shook them the most is that they knew the girls words were true, the three ninja in front of them could probably easily collect all three scrolls and get out of the forest in the matter of hours.

All except for Toshiro who was staring intently at Hotaru's head. He had pieced together long ago that Hotaru was strong enough to take down an entire nation single handedly and that anyone trained as her partner would be able to do things on a scale that went far beyond the expectations of a normal shinobi. But that's what pushed his buttons a bit.

True: he was trained to be Hotaru's partner. She trained him and complemented him. But what did this guy do? The person in front of him had most likely known Hotaru since she was a baby and knew everything there was to know about her. It made him jealous that this man was never lied to and always knew the truth about her and trained on her team way longer than he had. And, in his mind, that meant that Takeru was stronger than he was. He was eager to see exactly what this man could do and hoped this team up thing would let him do just that.

"If you agree to our bargain than meat us one hundred and fifty meters from the gate you go through. There should be a large collection of boulders that we can use as a place to separate into teams and plan a meeting point for later." Hotaru told them before locking eyes with Toshiro once more and walked swiftly away, her brother following close behind.

Nozomi, however, looked over the shinobi once more. "Just know that if you chose not to accept, I have permission from Hotaru to hunt you down and kill you. You would know of the plan and that would make you a threat to my team." Her glance fell on Toshiro "For some reason she has faith you will chose wisely. I don't see any reason for this and you should know I'm counting on you not meeting her quota. I have no reason to like you. Well…" she looked over them again. "I supposed I would like to get to know my new cousin and her fiancé better." She said it with a small, smile. But when she looked at Airi again she frowned "I find your presence unnecessary." She walked off as well.

After a moment of silence, Michi spoke "Well…good luck you guys." Her composure was calm but her mind was reeling.

Everyone went to one of the surrounding gates and prepared to take off into the forest. Nozomi walked up behind her teammates and prepared as well. "Hey, Nozomi?"

The red-head look at Hotaru who was smiling one of her inherited fox-like grins at her "I'm pretty wound up right now, and not really good with attacks. That being noted, plus the fact that Takeru has to watch our friends, would you mind handling any…issues that may arise for a while."

Nozomi smiled at her friend "It would be my pleasure."

The proctor went up to the front of the group again and eyes them all. "Ok. You know the rules and I'll see some of you back here in four days. GO!"

Whoosh. That was the only sound audible as the teams took of into the forest.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Toshiro landed with a thud on one of the large boulders in the area described by Hotaru. It wasn't really a question whether or not he and his team would agree to work with the Oni nin. Airi was against it, but then again it was two against one on that note. Yoshio wasn't stupid, he knew that not working with Hotaru's team was suicide waiting to happen. It was also a good thing that he was working with his team again.

Toshiro knew that there really was no other choice. But no one really knew what he was thinking at the moment. His face was more impassive than usual.

"Where do you think they are?" Michi asked to no one in general. It had taken them about a half hour to get to the point they were now. They had run into a few giant bugs plus a few traps set up by some nin that probably specialized in traps. They had gotten out without a scratch but it was a bit more time consuming than wanted.

"Seems like you people aren't as stupid as I thought you were." Nozomi suddenly appeared.

"Where are Takeru and Hotaru?" Shika asked wearily. Toshiro felt a vain in his head pop. They were alone...together. Together all alone! **(A/N Remember, he still doesn't know it's her brother)**

Nozomi roller her eyes "We got here about three minutes after the exam began. They fell asleep." She explained and just as she finished speaking the two appeared behind her.

Takeru still looked half asleep but Hotaru was still all business. "I'm guessing this means you've decided to team up with us?"

Shika nodded and spoke for the rest of the group "Do you have any idea about how you want to proceed from here?" Shika's face held a smirk. Of course Hotaru would know what to do from here. One thing Hotaru was good at was scheming.

Hotaru returned her friends knowing smirk but gestured to Takeru. He was the brains of the family…usually. "Here's the plan." He held out one of the yellow devises that told where the scrolls would be. "One person from each team will go get a scroll with the other two members from the other teams, as you all know. We'll need one field scout per group so that means that Michi, myself and Hotaru will have to be on separate teams."

Everyone nodded, knowing that the three in question all had byakugan. The elder Uzumake continued "That being said the strongest member from each team will need to go to the tower to get the infinity scrolls because they're the most heavily guarded of the scrolls. Which person from each team is going?"

"The strongest from our team is defiantly Toshiro-kun!" Airi squealed. Both Hotaru and Toshiro made a face but didn't comment. Toshiro turned to Yoshio and raised an eyebrow. The older boy nodded, telling Toshiro that he had no problem with the Uchiha going.

"And your team?" Takeru asked Michi, Shika and Kenta.

The three exchanged glances. "Shika." They all decided. "And who from your team?" Kenta asked.

Takeru simply gestured to Hotaru, who was once again exchanging a stare with Toshiro. "I'm going to go here because I have a means of transportation that's quick." He told them pointed to a place on the locator that was farther to the opposite end of the forest then where they were at. "That means that Michi's team will get the scrolls located here." He said pointed to the one highlighted area left on the map. It was located on the west half of the forest and was the closest to where they were now.

"I will be on Michi-san's team. We work the best together." Yoshio pointed out and went to stand by the Hyuuga.

"That means I'm with you two." Nozomi said stoically and stood by them. She was just glad she wasn't on a team with the purpled haired nuisance.

"So that means that Airi and Kenta are with me. Got it." Takeru said before biting his thumb and streaking it across his palm and slamming it down on the ground. Three large but slender frogs appeared from the dust. Each was orange and had a saddle-like thing on the back.

"Hey you three, ready for a job?" Takeru said cheerfully. The frogs just nodded and Takeru turned to Hotaru. "You gonna be ok?"

"I'll be fine." Hotaru said ripping her gaze from Toshiro. "We'll meat back here when we're all done, regardless of the day. With us splitting up like this it should only take a few hours or by morning." She reasoned.

"Would have been done by now if it wasn't for your strange infatuation with these people." Nozomi muttered and Hotaru shot her a look.

"Let's go then." She mumbled.

With that the three teams headed out: Yoshio, Michi and Nozomi to the west, Takeru, Airi, Kenta and the runner frogs to the east and Shika, Toshiro and Hotaru dead north to the center of the Forest of Death.

**Gah! I've been having writers block! Sorry! I was going to write more of this chapter but then I really wanted to get it out so I save some of the scenes until the next one. Sorry this took so long. **

**Explanations:**

**The reason Takeru is able to summon frogs is because Hotaru has access to all of the demon/summons regardless of the having the summoning contract. **

**Toshiro can't make the connection between the fact that Hotaru and Takeru are related: he's not thinking clearly. He has been to socially represed for to long and can't comprehend the fact that the reason they have the same blood-limit is because they're related. **

**Nozomi: she's not mean. She's just Gaara's child. **

**Got any other questions I will answer them. Sorry if the whole explanation of the exam was confusing, like I said I have writers block and really couldn't think of another way to say it. **


	20. pt 2 chapter 5

**I'm BAA-AAAAAAAAAAAACK! I am so sorry for taking this long but I **_**am**_** back! **

**Ikasury: O.O Holy shit! That was like the most epic review ever! Thank you! I'm sorry to say that I think I failed to make the scene with Takeru, Airi and Kenta funny but I just wasn't feeling it. Btw, love your ideas on team PSF (lol.) Thanks again for the uber-awsome review. **

**Thanks to everyone else who review as well! **

***IMPORTANT* This awesome person Burning Tempest has made fanart for this story. It's awesome. I've posted the link for it on my bio and it's at the very bottom under 'Little Firefly'**

**Let me go ahead and apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors. **

**Read on! **

Sasuke looked over to his best friends face expectantly and was shocked at what he found. Instead of being anxious, worried or evil _slightly_ concerned, Naruto's face looked like a combination of bored and curious. He was reclined in his seat, legs were handing over the railing in front of them and his arms crossed behind his head.

Sasuke lifted his hand and promptly slapped the Onikage on the back of the head. "Ow! What the hell was that for?!"

Sasuke scowled "You're wife is down there waiting for Tsunade to begin a fight between her and Sakura to decide weather or not you can stay in the village and you look bored out of your mind! And you asked me 'what the hell….'" He mumbled the last part.

Naruto shrugged "Do you really think that Hinata can lose? I mean, she has had to keep me in line for the last…lets see…twenty plus years and you don't think she can take Sakura?"

"I guess I can blame my daughter's new found self-confidence on you then." The two men turned to see Hiashi, Neji and TenTen standing in the isle. They were all currently in the stadium used for the Chunin exams sitting in the first row. Most of there friends were there, minus the ones who were helping with the exams, plus some of the members of PVK - though they were very few in number for most were scared of Naruto.

Naruto smiled back "It's not exactly new. Like I said, keeping me under control is a twenty-four hour commitment. About a month after we left is the first time I can recall her putting me in my place after I decided it would be 'fun' to hang upside down from a tree for three days straight for endurance training. I don't know which hurt worse, the fact that I couldn't move for twelve hours from chakra exhaustion or the smack I got to the back of my head for 'being stupid.'" He instinctively rubbed the back of his head.

He gestured to the Hyuuga's to sit down next to him, as they sat Tsunade's voice bellowed from the center of the stadium. "And so it begins." Sasuke murmured and a slow grin settled over Naruto's face.

"The proper phrase would be 'and so it ends.'" Naruto had tuned out Tsunade's voice as his blue eyes made contact with the lavender ones he had loved for as long as he could remember. He felt his face soften as he smiled.

Hinata felt any amount of nervousness completely leave her body as she looked at her husband's face. Not one once of concern could be seen on his face and, while Sasuke thought Naruto was being inconsiderate, Hinata found her husband's lack of concern comforting. She returned his smile and breathed out.

She didn't take her eyes away from Naruto's while Tsunade spoke. In a silence exchange Hinata gained all the self confidence one would need in a lifetime. She knew that Naruto was saying that no matter how much training Sakura had received or how well she faught, he believed in_ her_. That she could win. And really, who could resist feeling some sort of confidence when Naruto looked at them like that?

"Begin!"

Hinata's head snapped back in reality just in time to dodge a blow from Sakura's oncoming fist. She leaped back and sort of twirled through the air and as she landed her byakugan activated and she jumped up again as Sakura sprang forward and bashed the ground enough to leave a reasonable sized crater.

Hinata jumped back again and again Sakura attacked; punching the ground with exceptional force. Again and again this sequence occurred and after about thirty seconds of this Naruto's smirk got wider and wider.

"And you're smiling because….?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto just raised an eyebrow "You can't see what she's doing?" Naruto turned to his left and sent an inquisitor look at the three Hyuuga's and they all shook their heads as well.

The blonde shook his head "Just watch her." Naruto knew what they thought, and to anyone else it would appear as if she was losing. But he knew otherwise. She was studying Sakura. Seeing how much chakra she was using up in her attacks, how much durability she had and how much longer Sakura could keep up her attacks.

Hinata landed graceful on the ground and studied the field again, her byakugan still activated. There were a number of large craters in the ground, large boulders were scattered randomly and the ground was uneven. Hinata had to give Sakura some points; even though she was panting she had managed to only loose a small amount of a chakra during those attacks and at a steady pace. However she knew Sakura wouldn't risk losing any more of her chakra and would resort to kunai, explosive notes and other non-chakra exerting attacks.

A smile slipped on her face. Perfect.

Sakura was getting frustrated. All Hinata was doing was dodging. She wasn't even trying to attack back and Sakura was beginning to feel the slightest bit of fatigue and knew that if she kept this up any longer she would lose too much chakra. She preformed a few hand signs and three clones poofed up, began to circle Hinata while pulling three kunai, each wrapped in explosive notes, out of their kunai pouches along with some wire.

As the four Sakura's circled around Hinata, the younger woman smiled – if only just – but it didn't go unnoticed by Sakura who scowled in return and she, along with her doppelgangers, began to twirl the kunais on the wire to prepare to throw them.

"Coma or intensive care."

Sasuke tensed a bit but gave no other indication he was surprised by the sudden appearance of Gaara in the row behind them.

Naruto tilted his head to the side and placed his hand on his chin "Nah. Intensive care maybe but we can't all be like you and try to kill our opponents ever time they piss us off a bit, Gaara."

"And what, may I ask, are you two talking about?" Hiashi asked, a bit amused for some reason.

"Well, from the look on Hinata's face she's about to end this and we're betting on how bad Sakura's injuries are going to be." Naruto explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"They say it's unwise to count your victories before they happen." Neji said.

"You know we have a saying in our village. 'Only a fool challenges an Uzumaki.' Well, it would be more accurate if we said 'only a fool challenges an Uzumaki and expects to win.'" Yon added, and again Sasuke tensed. Did these people all have to be so stealthy?

Naruto smiled but didn't comment as he watched his wife. To anyone it would look as if she was just standing there but if you looked really close, you could see the sudden quick flicks of her fingers.

All four Sakura's jumped up and hurled all of their kunai at Hinata, the wire wrapped around her and as soon as all the kunais hit the ground they blew, sending the three clones hurdling at the wall but the original Sakura just jumped back to avoid the explosion, smirking as she landed.

Naruto just shook his head thinking _'Does she seriously think that worked?' _

As the smoke cleared Sakura's smirked was gone. There, standing in the middle of a giant crater, was Hinata. The only area that seemed to be unaffected by the blast was a circle around Hinata about three feet in diameter.

Before Sakura could even blink, Hinata was fifteen feet in front of her and her arm slashed forward and things that appeared to be needles flew out of her hand and impaled Sakura. Then Sakura realized something; these weren't needles at all. Hinata had thrown spikes of very thin chakra into her chakra system, almost completely destroying it. She gasped as the pain of having her chakra flow stopped set in and suddenly she was on the ground. She found that her legs, as well as the rest of her, were totally numb.

"And that, ladies and gents, is how the kunai falls. I guess we're staying. Now, if you will excuse me, my wife and I have some business to attend to with our council. Seems as though we will be requiring a new place to stay for the duration of our time here." Naruto said, a bit smug but he was trying not to show it, before jumping swiftly off the balcony and leave four very stunned Hyuuga's, one bored Gaara, and one slightly shocked (though he would never admit it) Sasuke in their seats.

As Naruto landed beside his wife he held out his arm to her and she took it with a smile and gave him a peck on the cheek which Naruto returned with one on her forehead as he escorted her toward the arena door, both looking as calm and collected as if they were just a couple out on an evening stroll.

Sasuke shook his head, as if to clear the shock away and followed his best friend over the balcony "Hey dobe!" Naruto turn her head to his friend "We have more than enough room in the Uchiha part of town for each of your people to have your own guest house, if you would be so kind as to humble us with your presence." The last part was said jokingly but both men knew that Sasuke meant it.

"We would be honored to stay at the home of the great Uchiha's. Thank you. I will go tell my council. Tsunade-sama." Naruto said, regarding her with a slight bow of his head before leaving with his wife on his arm.

"I wonder if Toshiro will be pleased with Hotaru staying at your compound." Tsunade said with a slight smile.

Sasuke's face then flashed to a smirk. "All I have to say is one thing: the bride's parents pay for the wedding." He could have sworn Naruto chuckle.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"This is so disgusting!" Airi shrieked for the eleventh time since they had dispersed about fifteen minutes ago. They were already about two minutes away from where they were keeping the spirit scrolls.

"Again, you could always run if riding on a frog's back is to grotesque for you, Airi-san." Takeru said with a forced smile. His mother had taught him to be polite to everyone but this….girl was making it increasingly difficult to not turn around and smack her.

"Don't worry, it's not just you. She's like this all the time." Kenta leaned over and told him, glad that Airi was to busy ranting about how disgusting it was that she was sitting on a frog and didn't hear him.

"How can you stand that? I had thought I had built up a tolerance for annoying girls after spending my entire life with my sister." Takeru shuddered.

"Actually, your sister is an angel compared to her. I know that Shika would pay to be able to throw a good punch at her." Kenta explained and Takeru rolled his eyes. His sister could be described by many words but 'angel' shouldn't be one of them.

"…and anyways why don't you have something nicer for me to ride on? Like a nice bird or something? I simply detest frog! They're so slimy and icky and nasty and…."

"How long do you think she can keep it up?" Takeru asked with a grimace. She was just repeating herself now.

Kenta chuckled "If you let her be, probably about a month."

Needed a new topic of discussion, Takeru's mind landed on the guy from before – the one that had glared at him like he was the plague or something.

"Hey, that guy from before he was the Uchiha who used to be really close to my sister right?" Kenta grimaced at Takeru's question. 'Close' was an understatement. He nodded. "Did I do something to offend him?" The last thing that Takeru wanted was to be on the Uchiha's bad side. He knew his sister cared for the Uchiha very much, even if she wouldn't admit it.

Kenta sighed "I honestly have no idea." At Takeru's confused look, the blond continued "After your sister left he just kind of….I don't know a way to accurately described it but it was like he died in a way. He just stopped talking, stopped smiling, overall just stopped living. Before Hotaru, he was stoic and a bit of a pompous ass but never like this. It's like he was standing right in front of us but _he_ wasn't there. After about a month he stopped hanging around us at all. After Hotaru came back I – well, my friends and I – were expecting him to just turn back to normal, be happy even." He sighed again remembering how disappointed Shika had been. "I guess that didn't happen."

"Huh, that certainly is interesting."

Kenta's head snapped in Takeru's direction only to see a forlorn expression on the Uzumaki's face. "What do you mean?"

Takeru sighed before eyeing Airi who was still at it and sent the frog on which she was riding a pitying expression. He would so be getting an extra treat later for putting up with the thing on his back. He didn't look at Kenta but opted to look straight ahead as he spoke.

"My little sister has always been a strange character. Strongest person I will ever know. Unfortunately she has this sense of pride that doesn't allow others to feel sorry for her. She doesn't ever appear sad when she can help it. After she came back to the village I could tell she was happy to be back but it was as if every smile was forced and never reached her eyes. I guess now I know why."

Kenta shook his head "I wonder why they just don't talk to each other. I know Toshiro's a bit…

But he was cut off.

"Hey! Are you two talking about Toshiro-kun! Did you know what? I would bet you anything that right after this exam he's going to ask me out. My mother said that he would. She said that…..

"Oh lord." Takeru mumbled.

"It's best to just ignore her." Kenta said again now that they were back to square one.

"We won't have to for long. I see the scrolls." Takeru said and Airi's gushing stopped.

"Where are they?! Toshiro-kun's going to be so happy when we get the scrolls!" she squealed.

"Shhhh!" Takeru said. "I don't see any traps but that doesn't mean they're not there. The scrolls are about fifty feet away. We can walk from here." Takeru hopped off his frog (no pun intended) and bowed to it, thanking it and Kenta did the same. Airi however, dismounted with an 'ew' and pointed her nose up it the air and huffed before walking away towards the direction Takeru said the scrolls where.

The frog, aggravated to its limits by the annoying human, decided to sneeze in Airi's direction before bowing to Takeru and poofing away with his siblings.

After Takeru's hearing recovered from Airi's wail, he lead the way to a large tree with a hole a little ways up the massive trunk.

"Where are the scrolls Takeru?" Kenta asked.

"They're in the tree at the bottom of the trunk. It seems to be hallowed and I can't see any traps…" Takeru said.

"Well, _I_ know I'm not doing anything until I get cleaned off." Airi told them.

"Ok Airi-san, you can stay here and Takeru and I will go get the scrolls." Kenta suggested gently.

"No! I am not staying out here alone!" Airi protested in a whine.

Kenta was about to retort when Takeru placed his hand on the other boys shoulder "Don't worry, I'll go and bring back three scrolls. It should be no problem."

"Hurry up with cleaning off, Airi. The other teams will be coming soon and I want us to be long gone when that happens." Takeru told her. She huffed.

"Fine, but don't forget to destroy the left-over scrolls." She told him.

"I'm not going to do that. It will stall the other teams more if the scrolls are still retrievable." Takeru didn't wait for Airi's response as he jumped up the branchless trunk and landed on the ledge of the hole, which was about the size of a cave opening.

Using his byakugan he looked down into the tree he saw that the scrolls were in a box about twenty feet under some water. While he could just as easily have swam down and got them, he opted to instead manipulate the water so that it was rising against the side of the tree and all he had to do was jump down, get the scrolls from the box, close said box and then jump back out all using a burst of chakra all of which he executed accordingly before peering down once more at the water. That was too easy.

An idea popped into his mind. He reached into his bag, retrieved a slip of paper (always have one handy, you never know when you might need it) and dropped it down into the hallow tree. He watched as it floating down, down, until finally it landed on the water then with a sizzle it disintegrated.

Acid water. Nice. Very nice, but they had a lot of work to do to meat up with Takeru's expectations for a 'challenge.' If it had been Hotaru planning this, the water would have attacked you.

Takeru snickered at the thought as he jumped down the tree to see Kenta and Airi – now free of frog snot – waiting for him.

"I'll take that." Airi said snatching one of the scrolls from him.

"Thank you, Takeru-san." Kenta said as the younger man gave him the scroll.

"No problem, you two ready to head back now?"

"No! I absolutely refuse to ride on those disgusting frogs again." Airi huffed.

"But Airi, it would be so muck quicker, we could avoid the other teams and -

"No! I absolutely refuse." Airi almost yelled, interrupting Kenta's please.

"Well I guess we better get going then." Takeru said, hoping to shut Airi up. If he had to admit to anyone, putting up with the company was about twenty times harder than actually getting the scrolls.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

There are many types of silences: awkward silences, comfortable, peaceful, stressful, pregnant, lingering and many, many more.

Aburame Yoshio could not figure out how to categorize the silence they were experiencing now. True, he was never really one to start or even participate in a conversation. Sure, Michi didn't talk too much unless she was with Shika or alone with him. But this was borderline ridiculous.

This silence wasn't awkward, but it wasn't all too comfortable either. It wasn't peaceful but it wasn't filled with any malice or negative intent. It was just….silent.

As soon as they had separated from the other's there had not been one word spoken between Michi, himself and Nozomi. Not. One. Word.

It was as if there was simply nothing to say and no one wanted to say anything that didn't have to be said.

Yoshio shook his head and took his time to take in his surroundings. They had been jumping through the oversized trees for the past twenty minutes but what was suspicious was that they hadn't scene anything. Not even animals or other ninja alike.

"Have you scene anything yet?" Nozomi mumbled apparently having the same thoughts as Yoshio.

Michi simply shook he head in response.

Suddenly Nozomi stopped. It was so abrupt that it took the other two a few seconds to figure out she had stopped. They looked back at her reach into her kunai pouch and pull out a small, red crystal. It was slightly glowing and Nozomi studied it in uncaring fascination for a moment.

After a few seconds the glowing stopped and she returned it to her pocket before jumping off again without a word in the direction of the scroll.

After a few more minutes Michi couldn't stand the silence anymore "The crystal?" was all she asked.

Without looking back at her Nozomi answered. "It's something my team and I use to communicate. Takeru, Airi and Kenta already have their scroll. However, it should take them a while to get back to the meeting point." She didn't elaborate anymore and Michi grunted in response.

After another ten minutes Michi spoke again "I can see the scrolls. They're at the bottom of a ditch, about twenty-three meters away."

Again, Nozomi stopped but this time she held up her hand in a signal for the others to stop as well, which they did immediately. "Michi, deactivate your eyes and both of you suppress your chakra." They did as they were told.

"What is it, Nozomi-san?" Yoshio questioned.

"Quiet. I sense…a disturbance." Nozomi said before closing her eyes and concentrating for a second. "Move!" She shouted right as a rain of needles came showering down at them. They had no choice but to jump down in a small clearing between the trees. Both Michi and Yoshio landed in fighting stances while Nozomi landed on the balls of her feel and crouched down. Their landing made a splash sound as the clearing was covered in puddles.

"Well, well, well boys, look what we have here." a grass ninja sneered as he melted out from a tree.

"I can't believe I missed them!" Another one whined as he landed on some protruding roots. "And the one with Byakugan didn't even see me either!"

"Either way, they still got stuck in our trap." The third member of the team slinked up from the ground with a smirk. That's when Yoshio noticed something: he couldn't feel his feet. In fact, the numb feeling was slowing seeping up his legs. His bugs were trying to fight it back but they were having a very hard time. It felt as if stabs of ice were stabbing him over and over and over. It was all he could do not to scream but he still kept his face impassive.

"I see you've noticed the water. It's special. You see when it makes contact with your skill, there's a special poison that gets stuck in your chakra system. It will spread until it gets to your heart." The grass ninja said, with a slight chuckle.

As soon as Michi heard this she reached down and stabbed her ankles, blocking off the chakra from her feet to the rest of her body. It was incredibly hard to stand but she'd endured worse. She knew that if she used her byakugan, her chakra would begin flowing again and it would do nothing but injure her anymore, so she didn't look at Yoshio but she knew that his bugs would be fighting the poison just fine.

She spared him a look and felt her eyes fill with terror as she saw his legs shaking just a bit. The bugs were fighting the poison…right?

"You three should be dead in about-

You know what they say: Never count your winnings before they happen.

The grass ninja was now wrapped up in a cocoon of sand that was slowly getting tighter and tighter, cutting off his air.

"I see you've noticed the sand. It's special. You see when I do this" Nozomi said, mocking him as she contracted her hand a bit causing the sand to tighten "you get one step closer to dying."

"No! Please! I'm sorry! I didn't know you were one of the Ninja from Oni!" He said quickly, now seeing the Oni seal around her waist.

"Already begging for mercy? You're pathetic and not worth my time. It's time you shut up. Sand Coffin!" Michi's eyes widened as she heard a sickening crunch but didn't have time to move as more sand shot out from Nozomi's gourd and constricted itself around the other two ninja who were both trying to get away. "And where do you think you two are going? If you're not going to put up a fight then so be it. I don't waste my time on cowards who abandon their teammate." And with that they were both crushed under the pressure of the sand as well.

Michi didn't let herself think about the three mutilated bodies a few feet away from her, all she cared about was getting to Yoshio, who by now was fully shaking. This, however, proved to be a very difficult task because when she moved her feet gave out from under her because of the poison. However, instead of landing in more puddles she landed on sand that was hovering a few inches about the water.

Nozomi nodded at the sand and Michi let herself lie on it and it floated over to Yoshio, who collapsed on the sand. He was in really bad shape. He was shivering violently and his breath was shaky.

Walking through the puddles as if they were just water, Nozomi came over and hit Yoshio's neck at an angle the caused him to pass out. Michi opened her mouth to protest but when she saw Nozomi's face she quieted herself. He was probably more comfortable like this anyway, however he was still shaking.

The sand then transported them up into one of the trees before going back into Nozomi's gourd which she then sealed with a cork.

"I'll go get the scrolls. You stay here with him. Don't touch him. I'll contact Hotaru. Stay here." And with that she was gone.

Michi, deciding it was worth the risk, activated her eyes. She first looked at her own feet and found that the poison was spread through them completely now. She grimaced and was glad she had blocked her tensuki (?) points while she could.

She looked back at Yoshio and to her horror she saw that his bugs were in about the same condition that he was in. The poison had spread rapidly both of his legs were not filled with it. Not thinking about her actions, Michi cut of all his tensuki points leading up his torso, stopping the spread of the poison.

"I thought I told you not to touch him." Michi jumped to find Nozomi, scrolls in hand, looking at her with an impassive look.

"I-

"I don't really care. I told you that because now I'm not sure what Hotaru will be able to do for him. It's not my problem." Nozomi said before looking over Michi and Yoshio. She pocketed the scrolls and then sighed "I suppose this means you two won't be walking back."

The sand, once more, seeped out of the gourd and made a little solid cloud next to Michi and Yoshio. After a second Nozomi raised an eyebrow "Well get on." She said. Michi gently lifted Yoshio up onto the cloud and then sat herself next to him. Nozomi stepped on as well and they began their journey back to the rendezvous point.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Shika felt her eyebrow twitch as she listened to the never ending 'Nu-uh!'s from Toshiro and 'Yuh-huh!'s from Hotaru.

"I said no! There is no way that you're going back _alone_ just to heal Yoshio and Michi."

"And I said yes! If Nozomi said it's serious that it is serious! And Takeru won't be at the rendezvous point until later so there's no one there to take care of them. It's perfectly safe for me to go and heal them, then come right back!"

"It's not safe and you know it! We're already more than half way there and we can't split up! What if something were to happen to us or to you while you were gone?"

"I'm going. It's safe."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

This argument had started about five minutes ago when Hotaru had pulled out a black crystal and found out that, while both Nozomi's and Takeru's teams had their scrolls, both Michi and Yoshio were in bad shape and in need of Hotaru's medical attention.

Shika was trying really, really hard not to yell at them to just shut up and go make out because she knew that's what they both wanted but neither would to admit it. Seriously! You could cut the sexual tension between these two with a dull kunai! Why they didn't just pick up where they left off five years ago she didn't know.

What really didn't make since was that the entire time they were having this conversation, they had kept moving toward the scrolls. Shika looked closer at Toshiro's mouth and noticed a slight smirk. Ass knew exactly what he was doing. However she did have to admit, this was the most she's heard him say for five years.

"Look, why don't they just wait for Takeru to reach them? Didn't you say something about him knowing healing techniques?" Shika tried to offer, she should have known just to stay out of it…

"Ha! See that? Shika agrees with me! Let's just keep going." Toshiro smirked but this time Hotaru stopped.

"That's not going to work because Airi refuses to get back on the Runner Frogs. They're traveling back through the forest on foot and are even further away from Michi and Yoshio than us! I have to go and help them!"

"And how do you know that?" Toshiro growled out.

"Because Takeru said so." Hotaru answer in the same tone.

"Well, if _Takeru _said so then it must be true!" Toshiro seethed. He knew Hotaru was right. She could go and be back before they got much further than they were now. (She had been complained about Shika and Toshiro – mainly Toshiro's – slow speed for a while.) However he didn't want her to leave his sight. It was stupid and childish but he was way beyond caring. And then she just had to go bring up _Takeru_. Yea, he got it. _Takeru _was way more perfect that he could ever be.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!" Hotaru snarled. Toshiro was just being stupid now. And to make it worse he was defending _Airi _of all people! She really didn't want to leave…_No! Bad Hotaru! Bad!_ She scolded herself. Besides, she knew she was right this time. Toshiro wasn't even giving a good argument…ok…so maybe he was. Something could happen to him and Shika while she was gone but she doubted it.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing." Toshiro growled out.

"HEY IDIOTS! If you two want to go and relieve some of this tension there are plenty of caves around here to do just that! And if not, I'm going to head to the tower to get the scrolls. The sooner we get the scrolls the sooner we get back to Michi and Yoshio. Hotaru, if you're really concerned send a clone. And Toshiro, stop being an ass! Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to be productive!" Shika yelled before continuing on.

About ten seconds later she heard a pop – signaling a clone – and soon the other two were following behind her. She didn't have to look to know they were both seething as well as probably the same shade of red as Toshiro's favorite food.

About an hour later of seething, moping, general self-loathing and glaring mutually expressed by both the Uchiha and Uzumaki they reached the tower in the center of the Forest of Death.

Hotaru activated her eyes and observed the tower. "They have traps set up everywhere along with ninja hiding on almost every floor. The scrolls aren't on the top floor, though, they're on the third which is the most heavily guarded. From here it looks like a giant maze. I think once we get in, though, I could figure out how to get there."

"Ok you two, remember: these are the only three Eternity Scrolls. If we can't get these we can't pass." Shika said, hoping her words would help the two focus on the task at hand.

"No pressure, right?" Hotaru mumbled.

Shika pulled back as she watched Hotaru and Toshiro go into the tower. She could tell they were ready for battle but not because they looked tense, no, it was because their bodies looked as if they were synchronizing. Their steps became like the same movement, they both positioned themselves so that, as if by old habit, they were ready to defend the other's weak points. It was like seeing two pieces of a well-oiled fighting machine being put back together.

She sighed, suddenly feeling like the third wheel. Oh, well, at least they weren't fighting each other anymore.

As soon as they got in the tower, which was entirely filled with smoke so they couldn't see more than five feet in front of them, they began running – Hotaru and Toshiro up front with Shika a few feel behind them. Both Hotaru and Toshiro pulled out a kunai and began their way through the deadly maze of bombs and ninja.

"You know, I don't know what your problem is." Hotaru said as she slashed her way through an arrow trap while dodging an oncoming shuriken and jumping over a ditch with spikes at the bottom.

"Oh?" Toshiro replied as he kicked a ninja in the gut and threw him over his shoulder while using his kunai to cut through some netting.

"Yea." Hotaru said while punching a masked nin in the jaw. "I come back and you leave." She said taking out her frustrating on a large boulder that was in the way of their path. "You don't even say hi." She used a chakra arm to slice through the on coming spikes of medal, piercing out at odd intervals from the wall.

"Huh, I really wouldn't think you would have noticed all that much." Toshiro said while sending a fireball at a bamboo barrier "You seemed to have plenty of things to concern yourself with." He added bitterly while deflecting some needles.

All three ran up the set of stair leading to the second floor.

As she slashed her was through more traps and ninja, Hotaru was confused. Concern herself with what? "You're not making any sense, you know that?" She said while fighting off three ninja, all with kantanas.

"Hn." Was Toshiro's reply as he sent an explosive notes flying at a group of awaiting ninja.

Shika just watched the exchange while trying to focus on the oncoming traps. Hotaru and Toshiro were taking care of most of them but she didn't know how they could have this conversation_ now_ and _still _fight as if all their moves were choreographed before hand.

Again they ran up the steps to the third floor. At this point Hotaru let free two more of her chakra arms and Toshiro activated his Sharingan so they could fight off all the things being hurled at them.

"Don't you 'hn' me, Teme!" Hotaru said while taking an abrupt left. Toshiro was able to stay in step with her just fine but Shika fell just a bit more behind.

"Don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about, Dobe!" Toshiro said as he let loose a barrage of fire down the hall, taking down ninja as it went.

"Don't call me that!" Hotaru yelled as she began forming a rasengan in her hand as she saw the approaching door that was bolted shut and had a chakra barrier up behind it.

"Then don't act like you have no idea what I'm talking about!" Toshiro yelled back, his hand started to spark and sizzle as a chidori formed in his hands.

At the same time they swung their hands forward and in a giant attack that probably could have shot a hole through a mountain, they demolished the door which opened to a room with three scrolls resting in the center on a table under a chakra protected barrier.

Two things happened at once. One, Shika screamed as a poison arrow stabbed her in the arm and two, the tower began to crumble because the blast from the double attack had, along with the door, demolished the building's foundation.

"Get Shika!" Hotaru yelled and the snapped back into action: Toshiro jumped to Shika and lifted her into his arms and Hotaru grabbed all three of the scrolls as if the barrier wasn't even there and put them in her bag. "Let's go!" She said before using her chakra arm to push a whole in the side of the wall. Both teens jumped out the side of the crumbling building but didn't stay to see it fall as they began running through the forest.

They found a makeshift-cave about a half-a-mile away beside a small pond under the roots of a tree but they didn't stop to rest. Shika was passed out from blood loss and they had to act fast.

Hotaru began telling Toshio a list of thing she needed and in about thirty seconds the pair had a fire with boiling water and three multi-colored flowers that Hotaru had described to Toshiro to get for her.

Toshiro held a cloth to Shika's wound as Hotaru made the flowers and a bit of water into a paste then pulled out a storage scroll and retrieved a cup. She added the paste and more boiling water to the cup before adding some hot water and mixing the two together. She turned back to the storage scroll and pulled out a purple packet and poured some green powder into the drink as well as a stick of something that resembled bamboo but was red.

She put the drink – which was now bubbling – aside and professionally removed the arrow and sealed up the wound. Toshiro dipped a cloth into the boiling water and placed it on Shika's forehead and he also pulled out two sleeping bags from his own storage scroll and made a bed for Shika.

When he came back to the fire Hotaru had removed her coat and was holding Shika up as she poured the drink down the unconscious girl's throat and forced her to swallow. After it was totally gone, Hotaru put down the cup and motioned for Toshiro to bring the sleeping bags over by the fire instead of away from it. He did so and took the time when she wasn't looking to admire how beautiful Hotaru's blond hair looked in the fire-light.

Together, they laid the brunette on the sleeping bag and propped her head up with the second one.

"How long?" Toshiro asked solemnly.

"We can't move her for about three hours because of the drink I gave her. After that she'll have enough energy to last her for about ten more before she'll crash again." She replied in the same tone. They both knew one thing – if they hadn't been fighting this wouldn't have happened.

They didn't speak to each other, instead opting to sit on opposite sides of the cave. Occasionally they would just stare at each other. They weren't embarrassed, it like some unspoken agreement told the other that now was the time to stare; to memorize every feature of the other other's face before they were around other people again.

It was during one of these staring contests that Toshiro's stomach began to growl. His cheeks colored just a slight bit and his looked away in embarrassment – he was beginning to feel like is old self again.

Hotaru smirked but didn't say anything. Instead she pulled out a storage scroll and pulled out something that made Toshiro's mouth water: a tomato. Hotaru tossed it to him and his caught it and eyed it. "It's either that or instant ramen. Take your pick." Hotaru told him before pulling out a cup of said ramen, added some of the remaining water and began eating.

Toshiro felt his lips twitch as a smile wanted to form but he forced it down and began eating.

Again Hotaru stared. She marveled at the way the firelight flicked off his dark-blue eyes making them glow more than normal. She had missed those eyes; she had missed everything about her. After another hour of listing the things she had missed about him she decided to voice her thought.

"I missed you, you know." She whispered.

He swallowed a bit and didn't dare try to break the hold her eyes had on him "I missed you too."

Again they fell into silence once again. He didn't know how much later it was when he decided he needed to tell her something.

"You know I–" he started but unfortunately for him Shika took that moment to wake up.

She grumbled for a minute before turning to the two of them "Did we get the scrolls?" she asked. Hotaru put on her foxy grin before waving the three scrolls in the air.

"Got 'em."

Suddenly Shika bolted up and stood up so quickly she could have been a blur. "Hotaru, why do I feel like I could run over the Great Mountains in two minutes?" She said quickly.

"The drink I gave you, you're going to crash in about ten hours so we need to get going now." Hotaru said. They quickly packed up camp and headed out.

Shika easily kept pace with Hotaru and Toshiro this time and they were able to get half way to the rendezvoused point in twenty minutes before Hotaru abruptly stopped.

"What is it, Hotaru?" Toshiro asked, trying so hard to stop himself from adding a 'chan' to her name.

"My clone just dispersed. Apparently, Michi's fine but Yoshio's in bad shape. His bugs suffered danger from chakra poisoning. He's going to need professional medical attention." She sighed and closed her eyes "My clone would have been able to heal him if Michi just hadn't blocked his tensuki points. It messed up bug's chakra even more."

Toshiro put a hand on her shoulder "Well come on then, let's get them these scrolls so we can get him to the hospital. I'm sure he'll be fine."

Shika's eyebrow's shot up. What did she miss while she was sleeping?

All through the trip back Shika observed the change in her friend's behavior. Toshiro seemed to be more at ease, almost smiling and he was always no more than two feet away from Hotaru. They didn't say anything however, just focused to getting back to their teams.

When they got back to their teams, however, it was like a bubble that they had created – where it was just the two of them – burst.

"Toshiro-kun! You're back." Airi squealed in delight but then her voice turned whiny "It was so disgusting Toshiro-kun, a filthy frog sneezed all over me!"

Toshiro just 'hn'ed more focused on Hotaru who had moved away from him with a scowl on her face. His face dawned a matching scowl when he saw her walk over to _him_._ He_ was currently tending to Yoshio; trying to make the suffering man as comfortable as possible.

"How was the trip back?" Hotaru asked.

"Manageable. We ran into a couple of teams but took care of them." Takeru said while standing up and wrapping his arms around his sister for comfort. He had had enough Airi exposure to last him a lifetime.

Toshiro's fists clenched and his blood boiled. What he wouldn't give to have Hotaru wrapped up in his arm at that moment instead of having Airi babble on and on in his ear. Hotaru didn't look at Toshiro but felt herself tense. What she wouldn't give to be standing that close to Toshiro and talking to him about anything and everything on her mind.

Shika felt like screaming. They were back to square one...again.

***peeps out from behind laptop* Please don't eat me. **

**You thought I was going to let Toshiro figure it out weren't you? NO! That would be too easy. **

**Again I'm so sorry I haven't been updating and plan to start back up again. I broke one hand, one arm and schools been a bitch this year. I worked so hard to get this done by today! Don't hate me! **

**I adore reviews!**

**I wish you a nice beginning to your holiday season! **


	21. pt 2 Chapter 6

**Ikasury – I have spell check, I use the wrong words…..it's a curse. v.v anywho, thank you again. You helped me make a very important decision! **

**BethandMolson – *sighs* I know, I try to go back and fix all of 'em but in my mind if they sound the same they are the same. I'm working on it though! **

**Serinity Dawn: while those two fighting would be entertaining, in my mind Takeru's to nice to really fight Toshiro like that plus Toshiro isn't really mad at Takeru he's just angsting because he think Hotaru doesn't love him anymore. Thanks for the review. **

**XelaKitsune: yea, he is an idiot. XD **

**Ouji no Onigakure: Prince of Onigakure**

**Oujo no Onigakure: Princess of Onigakure **

**I appologize in advance for any spelling/grammar errors. Read on!**

Hotaru couldn't wipe the grin from her face. She didn't know what was funnier: Toshiro's face or the crowd's.

For now she went with Toshiro's.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" the proctor asked, an eyebrow arched above his dark sunglasses.

"Yes, I resign. I did what I came here to do, besides I'm tired." Shika said with so much conviction that Hotaru nearly burst out laughing again. She spared a look back at Toshiro who was rubbing that back of his head and twitching as he rubbed over the rather large bump that was probably forming.

"O-kay then…well, I guess that end the second battle of the first round of the Chunin exams! Winner: Uchiha Toshiro!" the massive crowd, however stunned they still were, cheered for their prized shinobi. The clapping soon turned into a roar as the mass of people cheered and clapped; people from many other countries. Regardless of their fear they had all come to Konoha not only the famed Uchiha but more importantly the ninja from Onigakure.

_So far they had not been disappointed._ Hotaru thought. The first fight of the morning had been Nozomi and Kenta. Needless to say Nozomi won. Hotaru spared a glance at her stoic friend who was simply studying Shika with curiosity.

Hotaru looked back at Toshiro. She would have laughed at the confused expression on his face if it had not been for the memory of just a few nights ago it brought up. She frowned at the bubbly feeling she got as she remembered.

_**::FlashBack:: **_

"Toshiro, please show these three to their rooms please." Sasuke said to his son before turning back to Hinata, who was teaching him how to make something in the kitchen.

It had been a very…interesting evening so far. It was two days after they got out of the Forest of Death and the Oni people had all already moved into the Uchiha part of town for their stay. All except Nozomi, Takeru and Hotaru who had been kept at the hospital for the last forty-eight hours for 'trauma watch,' along with the rest of their friends.

The only bad news was Yoshio. He wasn't only damaged by the water but his bugs were to, meaning he was on critical watch until he got a new colony into his system and they adapted to his body. Everyone agreed that it would be best for him to not do the last part of the exam. He probably couldn't even if he wanted to.

When they had learned that they would be staying at the Uchiha manor Takeru had been intrigued, Nozomi had been indifferent and Hotaru had just tensed.

And apparently for good reason for the only rooms left that had been prepared for guests were the extra rooms in the main house…with Sasuke and Toshiro.

Since they had gotten back Hinata had been trying to teach Sasuke how to cook while Naruto, Takeru, Nozomi, and Toshiro had a 'conversation' in the living area. Said 'conversation' consisted of Naruto and Takeru discussing what had happened during the exam, Nozomi browsing the book selection they had and not saying anything, Hotaru sitting there very tense occasionally added a word or two on her brother's conversation while trying not to look at Toshiro and Toshiro sitting there going between glaring at Takeru to staring at Hotaru. It didn't help Toshiro any that the twins were sitting next to each other.

Sasuke's statement had brought Toshiro out of his thoughts. He nodded, stood up and without saying a word walked into the hall and stopped at the stares. Hotaru followed immediately after, knowing that that was what Toshiro expected, but it took Takeru and Nozomi a few seconds to figure it out before following.

As they walked up the steps no one said anything and there was obvious tension in the air. Hotaru decided she needed to break it with something.

"Do you think we could have two rooms instead of three?" she asked, thinking of how Nozomi and Takeru usually slept in the same room.

Toshiro's eyes flashed in anger and he almost wished Hotaru could see them. He felt his fist clench and teeth grind together in anger. Was she seriously asking him that question? Was she seriously asking if she could share a room with her little boyfriend in his house?

"No." he managed to growl out before he continued walking.

Hotaru would have been fine with that answer (her brother would have snuck into Nozomi's room anyways) however the amount of hostility that the one word was spoken made her want to yell at him as well as cry. Did he really hate her that much?

He walked up to a door and opened it before gesturing his hand towards it. "I hope this room suits you, princess." Hotaru felt her eyes widen in hurtful shock at the way he said her title but she just looked down and nodded, not letting him see her eyes. But why would he see? He wasn't even looking at her.

He turned to Nozomi and Takeru and very curtly said "This way." He was planning on giving them rooms that were located on the other side of the floor. He wanted Takeru as far away from Hotaru as possible.

As they were leaving the room Takeru shot his sister a worried glance but she just shrugged and forced a smile on her face, a fake one which Takeru frowned at but followed Nozomi and Toshiro down the hall anyways.

Hotaru took a minute to collect herself before looking around the room. She couldn't help but smile in recognition. It was her room, the one she had stayed in however there were a few changes. In stead of the empty room it once was it, it now had a king-sized bed made of iron cast in a delicate looking braded pattern embellished with gold sheets and pillows, a vanity that was much the same, iron with gold accents, that had a small stool in front of it and the entire room and been restyled as if she designed it herself.

However, what made her remember it was her old room was the not so hard to miss burn on the wall from where she had had a little…accident involving a flash bomb and an explosive note. She chuckled as she remembered how she had been digging through her backpacks to get some training weights for Toshiro's training that day (the one he had weren't adequate for their training because seriously, who wears training weights that don't go over five hundred pounds?), she had no idea how it had happened but she had also pulled out an explosive note and a flash bomb while looking for the weights and she saw a spider and she sort of squealed really loudly and threw the bomb and explosive note at it. But in her defense they wouldn't have gone off if Toshiro hadn't been in the next room, heard her squeal, overreacting and thought she was in trouble, then run into her room and hurl a fireball in the direction she just threw the two explosive objects….she was just glad they had been very low grade explosives.

She froze then, remembering something else. If this was her room that meant that….

Hotaru looked over to the left wall of the room. Toshiro's room was on the other side of that wall. Great. Just…just great. (note the sarcasm)

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hotaru looked up from her place at the large dinner table that held everyone of importance to her that she knew. Everyone from Oni, Tsunade, Jeraiya, all her parents' old friends, all her old friends (save for Yoshio who was still in the hospital), her mother's family…everyone was all in the large dinning room located at the back of the main house. And they were all gushing over her mother's cooking and said mother was blushing furiously from all the compliments.

However Hotaru could only fully notice one person and that was Toshiro, who was sitting right across from her beside his father. She noticed how at that moment he looked incredible uncomfortable. What she didn't know was that this was the first time he had been around this many people who he was supposed to socialize with in five years. She also noticed something else – he hadn't eaten a bite of food. He had been giving it all to Kenta who was sitting on the other side of him.

_Of course he hasn't._ She thought to herself. Her mother had prepared a delicious meal that a variety of people with all kinds of different food preferences would enjoy…anyone accept Toshiro. Some people would look over every once in a while and shoot him questioning glances, curious as to why he wasn't eating his food but no one bothered to actually ask him. Hotaru felt her eyes roll every time she saw this. It still amazed her that something that came so easily to her was so difficult for other people to understand: Toshiro was a very picky eater.

She rolled her eyes and as another person shot him a confused glance and decided to get him out from everyone's questioning eyes – a place where he clearly didn't want to be. She politely excused herself from the table for a second and walked into the kitchen and slipped on an apron before getting out all the ingredients she would need.

With the help of some clones she quickly whipped up a meal that she knew Toshiro would enjoy; pork dumplings and rice balls. She shook her head, to anyone it would look the same as a few of the dishes her mother had put on the table but what they wouldn't know was that both the dumplings and the rice were stuffed with chopped tomatoes. Hotaru could not for the life of her understand why Toshiro would eat this but it had been long since the discussion that they had were the final verdict had been that if Hotaru respected Toshiro's tomatoes than Toshiro would respect Hotaru's ramen. It was just that simple.

She walked out with the plates and sat back down in her seat before looking up at Toshiro who was looking at her with a raised eye brow and eyeing the food.

"I thought you might be hungry so I brought you some more." She told him while keeping eye contact with him and slowly sliding the plates across the table. Takeru looked at the two with question before looking at Shika for an answer. The table was full of more of the exact same type of food, why go get more out of the kitchen? Shika shrugged but watched the exchange anyways. Whatever it was she knew that most everyone in the room would probably never understand it anyways. Trying to understand the relationship between those two was something that she had tried to do on many occasions but she soon found it not only made her head hurt, but it was also incredible frustrating.

_How troublesome._ She thought. She would ask her father about it later.

Hotaru's eyes were still glued to Toshiro's. She could tell that he was mildly confused though it didn't show on his face. Her eyes flicked to the food that was now right in front of him back to his eyes and she drew her hand away. She picked up her chopsticks and popped one of the dumplings on her own plate into her mouth and saw something flash cross Toshiro's face before she looked away. She wanted to giggle at that look. It was a look of combined gratitude and boyish excitement.

As the night went on he ate slowly – trying to make it look like he wasn't exited to be eating Hotaru's cooking again – but he made sure to eat every bite. At one point Kenta had reached over to grab a dumpling from Toshiro's plate and Hotaru was sure she had herd a growl emit from the Uchiha, adequately scaring Kenta away from the food at which she struggled to hold back laughter.

Later, when the table had been cleared, dessert had been passed out and Toshiro excused himself for the night so he wouldn't have to make an excuse not to eat dessert without downright refusing it. As she passed him on his way out, Hotaru slipped something round in his hand before walking towards Shika and Michi who were discussing something or other.

He waited until he got into the hallway to look down at his hand. He smirked/smiled before tossing the tomato from one hand to the other and heading up the stairs.

"Hotaru, do you like your room?" Sasuke asked and she turned from Tora, with whom she was discussing their training schedule over the next couple of days, and smiled at Sasuke.

"Yes, very much. It's perfect."

"Good, Toshiro spent forever picking out the furniture. I'll make sure to tell him you are like it. So, are you glad to be back in Konoha?" Sasuke continued to converse with her and she smiled and talked back but the entire time all that was running through her head was _'Toshiro-kun did that for me?' _She outwardly cringed at her malapropism. It was just Toshiro she reminded herself sadly. _Just Toshiro…_

"Watching Toshiro-san and Hotaru-san like watching the moon and the sun." Shino commented to Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji, Hinata and TenTen.

"What do you mean, Shino?" TenTen asked her usually shy friend.

"I think I understand what it means. May I?" Shikamaru asked and Shino nodded. Shikamaru continued "May I first make an assumption? When Hotaru came back to your village, she was happy and lively but in her own way she wasn't, correct?"

Naruto nodded. "That's what it was like. She would smile and laugh and we knew it was genuine but it also seemed very forced at times. She seemed alone at times, as if she was alone even though she was surrounded by people." The blond tried to explain it the best he could and Shikamaru nodded in understanding.

The lazy ninja looked back over to Hotaru, who was still talking lively with Sasuke. "Look at her. In their relationship, Hotaru is the sun - an independent figure, bright, radiant, warm and happy. She could easily stand by herself and be fine. However, without the moon – her companion – she seems alone, incomplete somehow but still bright and warm. Toshiro, who's almost the complete opposite of her, would be the moon. He's his own person just like the moon's its own solitary figure. Dark, cold and distant by itself but the sun makes it glow and is the only reason it glows. Just like after they were separate – Toshiro was cold and distant, never talking to anyone, and Hotaru seemed alone even though she had people surrounding her. The moon cannot shine without the sun and the sun is never truly complete without the moon." He sighed as he saw Takeru come over and join in the conversation with his sister and Sasuke "It seems so troublesome, how two things so different can become so dependent on the other."

"But if they're so dependent on each other – like you said – then why haven't they just gone back to the way they were before she went back to Oni, enter a new phase in their relationship now that they're older?" Neji asked. Everyone was wondering the same thing.

"I don't even think Shikamaru can answer that one." Temari said, coming to join her husband.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and let them sort it out for themselves." TenTen said before changing the topic.

Shika rolled her eyes after hearing the conversation. _I hope you like to wait._ She thought.

A couple hours later Hotaru was beat. She was almost asleep on her feet she was so tired. She didn't know where all this exhaustion came from but it was probably more mental and emotional than physical. She was the last one up and after she turned off the last light she walked up the stairs.

She had been avoiding going to bed, she knew it would be weird to sleep in the same house as Toshiro but not be in the same room.

Leaving the navigation to the feet and not even paying attention to her surrounding she walked up the familiar stairs and into her room. She took of her cloak, not even bothering to change into proper sleep clothes, and crawled underneath the covers.

She sighed. She knew the bed certainly looked comfortable but she didn't know it was supposed to be _this_ comfortable. And warm…in her hazy state she rolled over until she was right next to that source of heat and sighed.

"So warm." She mumbled to herself and wrapped herself around the warm thing and hugged it to her. It felt so familiar, so comforting. The heat seemed to wrap around her like a pair of arms and she snuggled in closer and sighed again.

Then she heard someone sneeze. It was quite, as if the person it belonged to was trying to muffle it, but it was enough.

Her eyes snapped open immediately and she jolted up so fast she flipped herself out of the bed, thankfully with her quick reflexes she was able to flip herself over and land on her feet instead of her butt.

She looked back to the bed and was met with a very flushed looking Toshiro, there was something else on his face – disappointment maybe? – but she didn't have time to contemplate it as she felt her face heating up and looked at her feet, which suddenly fascinated her. She probably looked like a tomato right now and she was glad for the dark room.

"I-uh-well….s-sorry, um, I'll be going now. Wrong room. Goodnight!" she stuttered out and then bolted out of the door.

Toshiro fell back onto his bed with an exasperated sigh. Why did he have to sneeze? If he hadn't he probably could have kept her beside him for at least a little while longer. It was probably his last chance to ever have her that close to him either. When she had first came in there and hugged him to her he had thought…well, he didn't know what he thought, he just didn't want her to stop. He knew it was selfish, she was with that other guy now, but he still wanted so badly for her to come back in here and curl up with him just like they did when they were kids.

He hadn't had a good, or even halfway descent sleep in five years and realized that he probably wasn't going to get one tonight either.

Hotaru shivered. Even under all these warm covers she felt so cold. She sighed and rolled over onto her back. No sleep for her tonight.

_**::End:: **_

That was two weeks ago and since then they really hadn't had a chance to speak. She didn't know whether she was saddened or grateful for that fact.

They day after the order for the fights of the Upper Chunin Exams came out and they both had been training almost non-stop and Hotaru also had the task of making sure Tora was in tiptop condition for her own exams, which were scheduled to take place after the Upper Exams ended.

The fights were to go like this:

**Round one:**

_Fight One:_

Akamichi Kenta 

vs.

Sabaku no Nozomi 

_Fight Two:_

Nara Shika

vs.

Uchiha Toshiro

_Fight Three:_

Ouji no Onigakure 

vs.

Hyuuga Michi

_Fight Four:_

Haruno Air

vs.

Oujo no Onigakure

Everyone was slightly surprised to see that the only ones who passed the first test, beside the Oni nins, were all Konoha shinobi. The Mizukage, despite having no ninja from his country in the exam, was going to be present anyways and was now on very good terms with everyone from Oni.

Over the past week people had been pouring into Konoha for to watch the tournament. Even more than usual. It was all to see the princess and prince of Onigakure fight. The bets were already being tolled and it didn't matter if you were from a warring country or not, you still would risk coming to Konoha to see these matches.

It had been a mutual decision not to use 'Uzumaki Hotaru' and 'Uzumaki Takeru' or even any part of their names in the public exam layout. Naruto had had a weary feeling about it, though he didn't know why but everyone else trusted his gut.

Hotaru looked around the stadium, just like this morning when they had first arrived it was packed to the brim. Her father, the Mizukage, and Tsunade were all sitting up on the highest balcony in the three 'important people chairs' (as she liked to call them.) Beside Tsunade was Sasuke and Jeraiya, the Mizukage had three guards positioned behind him, and to either side of Naruto was Hinata and Gaara who, like the other members of the Oni council, was in his mask and colored cloak. The other members of the council, however, were all standing on the roof above the balcony. Not for Naruto's protection, just for the good view.

So far this morning the crowd had been very entertained. First Kenta (who was scared out of his mind) and Nozomi had fought earlier that morning. Lucky for Kenta, Hotaru and Takeru had set some ground rules: no killing, no maiming, no comas, no irreparable damage, no indefinite hospitalizations unless it is absolutely definite and then only the last one was appropriate.

True to her word, Nozomi had hardly scratch Kenta. When the proctor had ended the match in her favor, Nozomi had had Kenta wrapped in a sand coffin (though not to tight) with spinning sand drills at his throat. It was more of just for show and to end the match, she wouldn't have actually…ok, maybe she would have but she wouldn't have killed him. It was a quick fight and hadn't really brought as much attention as the next one.

In almost everyone's mind, Uchiha Toshiro was the star performer in these exams, attracting almost as much attention as the Oni ninja. Everyone expected him to win his fight with Shika, but no one really expected _exactly_ how he won.

The fight had started off a bit intense. Hotaru had been surprised at Shika, who had a serious expression on her normally bored face and had been throwing attacks at Toshiro with the amount of energy needed to keep the Uchiha on his toes.

Throughout the fight they had been pretty evenly match because Toshiro refused to use any major attacks or activate his Sharingan, opting to save those for later. He soon regretted that fact as Shika was able to get a few hits at him with wind sent by her fans and was also able to dodge most off his attacks, the ones that did hit her didn't actually do any damage.

Some time and serious strategizing later, Shika had, to everyone's astonishment, managed to capture the Uchiha prodigy in a shadow-bind from two feet behind him. At the time Hotaru had shaken her head and sighed. She knew exactly what Toshiro had done wrong. While it was intelligent to save his better moves for later on in the tournament, how was he going to get there if he underestimated his first opponent and given that match his all? Shika was not one to underestimate.

However, Shika had other plans. She had arranged herself so that she was two feet behind Toshiro with a fan in her hand. Toshiro, who had to copy her moves exactly, was standing with his back to Shika and nothing in front of him. Shika had gotten a fan from her belt, Toshiro copying her movements except for he didn't have a weapon in his hand, and Shika brought back her hand and swung her hand forward giving Toshiro a good, hard smack in the back of the head with the fan.

This hadn't knocked the Uchiha out, but Shika wasn't planning to, however it did give him a nice big bruise. Thanks to her oversensitive hearing, Hotaru heard Shika say "That was for being an idiot. Maybe now you'll be able to think clearly."

Then she released Toshiro, raised her hand and gave up.

And that was were they were now: the crowd cheering, Shika with a bored expression on her face however it held a slight smirk and Toshiro rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, I wonder where she gets_ that_ from." Temari sighed and sending a pointed glare at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru just shrugged "Well, at least now we don't have to worry about her getting hurt." Temari's eye twitched just a bit.

Shika's eyes flashed to Hotaru's before she walked out of the stadium and to the infirmary.

It took about five minutes to get the crowd settled down and Toshiro back into the contestant box. He wasn't allowed medical treatment until he lost a fight and he had a pounding headache.

When he walked back into the box and found Hotaru giving him 'the look.' It was the look he used to give him whenever he messed up during training, where she was the sensei and he was the student. The look that said 'you screwed up and I know exactly how you did it.' It made him feel like crap every damn time and apparently five years hadn't changed a thing.

"You underestimated her." Hotaru told him in a voice that again, made him know he screwed up. "You would have lost. You should have lost." He lowered his head, he had never argued with her on the points she made. She was always right but he would argue anyways.

"I was trying to pace myself." He didn't want to argue but he always had to make one point in his defense. In truth, he was just trying to impress her. Show her that he could beat someone as strong as Shika without using any major attacks.

"You can pace yourself without looking as if you think the other person is incompetent. I know for a fact that you can use sharingan without losing too much of your chakra. I know for a fact that you could have used better jutsu or hell, even better tijutsu without losing that much stamina. And I know that you know that you would have had adequate recovery time before your next fight." Hotaru was mad now, he could have gotten hurt because of his cocky, overly-pompous attitude. However she also had an arterial motive: if Toshiro had lost he wouldn't have been able to make it to the final round, the only possible way she could fight him.

Their friends were listening in on their conversation, even though they were trying to appear otherwise except for Airi. She was contemplating defending Toshiro but right now Hotaru looked scary.

Even though she was still looking at Toshiro, Hotaru spoke to Takeru "Good luck on your fight, Michi, Takeru. I expect a show."

Takeru laughed and walked over and slung his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. "Always a show for you, Taru-hime." Hotaru eye's twitch. She thought she made it very clear before they left that he was_ not_ to call her by that name. It was given to her when she was two years old, by who? She didn't know but it had stuck.

Toshiro felt his eyes blaze and he was probably going to glare a whole through the floor. Again, why right in front of him? It didn't help that they were already calling Takeru the prince of Onigakure. He walked back to the stairs and out the door mumbling something illegible.

"Now, if the next contestants would please come down for the next fight." The proctor's voice blared. Michi immediately went it serious mode as she walked down the corridor. Takeru released Hotaru from his hold and looked to Nozomi who nodded at him and shot him a little smile. His face lit up as he followed Michi down the stairs.

As Michi and Takeru took their positions the crowd cheered knowing that their Hyuuga prodigy was down there. If anyone could be an Oni-nin it was her.

"Ok, Round One; Fight Three: Hyuuga Michi against Ouji no Onigakure." The proctor yelled "You both know the rules?" both nodded "Begin!"

Both Michi and Takeru immediately jumped back, both assuming Hyuuga stances.

"Just so we're clear, I don't care if you are my family. I'm not going to hold back." Michi glared. Takeru had a smirk on that looked all too much like Naruto's "Wouldn't have it any other way."

At the same time both of them shouted "Byakugan!" and the crowd when silent, most foreigners wondering why anyone from Oni had the Byakugan and the people from Konoha knowing that this was going to be a good fight.

At once they were both flying at each other, and in movements that were both quick and graceful, attacking the other, trying to get a jab on the other's body. Hotaru thought they looked like they were dancing. She always admired her brother's and mother's grace on the battle field. She knew she was graceful too but it never was the same thing, she would never be able to fight like that. She smiled as she remembered how she used to watch them while they were training; she always had - even as a little girl - thought they looked like they were dancing.

She watched this dance closely, trying to sort out the movements and who hit who. She found that it was quite easy to keep track of their movements, and then she figured out that Takeru was moving way slower than he usually did. He wasn't giving it his all. _"Always a show for you, Taru-hime."_ So he was making this a show? She crossed her arms over her chest; idiot was trying to put on a show then she would watch the show. Why is it that every guy she knew just couldn't fight someone, make it quick and get it over with? What was it with trying to showoff how cool they were!?

Takeru jumped away from Michi with a final blow and they both landed in defensive stances. Michi frowned, Takeru wasn't even breathing hard and yet her breathing was hard and she felt weak.

As they lunged at each other again and restarted their attacks Takeru spoke "You know, Michi-san, that there are more ways to use chakra to attack the body than closing tensuki points?"

Michi heard him but still focused on dodging his hits and hitter him with her own. "Actually, you can attack people senses or even stamina? You can attack their senses by swinging your arm past the part of the body that controls the sense you want to attack and release a gust of chakra as you do it." As if to demonstrate was he was telling her Takeru swung his arm past her eyes. To anyone watching it would seem like a miss because his arm didn't actually touch her but as soon as Takeru spun away, her vision wavered, becoming blurry for a second. But that second was enough for Takeru to land a hard blow to her chest, sending her flying backwards.

Takeru gave Michi time to recover and get back up. In the time it took for her to get back up on her feet, Takeru exchanged a look with his sister. He nodded and then looked back to Michi who was now up but just a bit disoriented. Takeru had revealed who had the real upper hand in a Hyuuga style fight and she wasn't stupid enough to go back into a fight where she obviously would lose.

'_Ok, Michi, you can do this. Just think. He's like you, a Hyuuga, so he's a close range fighter so that means he shouldn't have any experience dealing with chakra powered weapons…perfect.'_ Michi smirked as she thought up her plan and pulled a scroll out from her kunai pouch and untied the ribbon around it with her teeth.

Takeru eyed the scroll and knew that this fight was about to be over. While he could downplay his abilities in Hyuuga tijutsu, he couldn't downplay his other…skills. He was about to end this, it was that simple.

Hotaru saw the conviction in her brother's eyes and sighed. "Anything wrong?" Hotaru shook her head at Toshiro's question. He had just gotten back from wherever he had gone and had sensed her stress.

"No, this fight will be over though. And I predict it will be over relatively soon."

"How can you say that? Michi just started pulling out her weapons, it's stupid to think she could lose just because she's changing tactics." Airi said, putting in her unwanted two cents.

"That's actually exactly what happened, however she wouldn't have won in the first place. This just means she's going to lose sooner." Nozomi said, she hadn't even thought a fight was necessary. Hotaru may be the strongest shinobi in Oni but Takeru was a solid second.

"It's stupid to count your winnings before you have them." Airi chided as if she was talking to a child.

Nozomi didn't even give Airi a second thought, killing her would be stupid because she had a fate worse then death coming to her. "Shouldn't you be more concerned about you fight? It's common knowledge that it's next."

Airi paled, she wasn't looking forward to her fight. She stole a glance at Hotaru, who was staring at Takeru. No, not looking forward to her fight at all.

Michi smirked as she flung open the scroll and began to spin up and as quick as she could manage began flinging ever weapon imaginable at Takeru, but not before charging it up with chakra from her hand to make it sweep through the air faster. As if to just keep it coming she preformed a mini-midair-kaiten, giving the weapons just that much more firepower.

Even though this had happened in less than a second, everyone already knew it would take a lot to dodge that many high-powered weapons, which were all coming down in a rain from every direction at Takeru.

Suddenly, as if everything moved in slow motion, water droplets suddenly appeared all over the arena, but not on the ground - in the air. They were everywhere. Then, faster than the weapons were streaming toward him, Takeru raised his hands and the water formed tactical like arms, very thin but very flexible and there were a lot of them all coming from a ring of water around Takeru's feet.

Toshiro stared. That looked almost exactly like Hotaru's chakra attacks except the strands of water were smaller but much more numerous. He was watching in awe but he felt a pang of irritation hit him. Great, first they have matching coats, then the matching jutsu? What was next?

The tentacles of water streamed past the weapons hitting and knocking them of course as they hit the ground randomly. Takeru waved his arms and they all changed direction and headed straight toward Michi. With his eyes activated, it was easy for him to aim all the tips of the chakra-charged water at Michi's tensuki points. When they hit, it was all Michi could do not to scream out. He hadn't hit any of her major tensuki points but it was incredibly painful to have that many closed at once.

As she was still in the air, she expected to fall to the ground and she braced herself for impact but it never came. In stead the arms of water caught her as she fell and lowered her gently to the ground before disappearing.

The crowd, including Tsunade and everyone else who wasn't from Oni, were stunned. Takeru had just done something no one had seen done since the Second Hokage: he had done a water jutsu when there was no actually water present. He didn't even perform a jutsu, he just commanded and formed the water to his will. It took supreme skill and perfect chakra control.

Then one man started clapping and suddenly the entire arena was cheering and clapping even louder than they had the last match. They had a new found respect for the Oni-nin and even the Mizukage found himself clapping.

"That's some boy you have there, Onikage-sama." The Mizukage said approvingly. Naruto smiled his thanks and looked on and made eye contact with Hotaru, having a silent conversation with his daughter before turning away and giving his son a thumbs up.

Takeru waited for the proctor to announce him the winner before walking over and lifting Michi in his arms. She was still conscience and smile weakly back up at him before he took her to the infirmary.

Again Toshiro felt a sense of defeat sweep through him. This man was really better for Hotaru than he was. Just admitting that fact made him feel worse than he already did.

After a few minutes, people had come out and cleaned up all of Michi's weapons and Takeru returned to the contestant box telling them that Michi was in the infirmary resting. He noticed something was off, his sister wasn't talking, and instead she was looking out of the box and staring pointedly at Konoha's wall.

He walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Something's wrong. Something is really, really wrong." She answered his silent question in a low, serious tone so the others wouldn't hear.

"What ever it is, I think it can wait until after your fight. You need to focus on that." He told her and she nodded.

"Can the next contestants please come down?" the proctor asked.

"Wish me luck, Toshiro-kun!" Airi squealed as she tried to get him to give her a hug.

Hotaru rolled her eyes, she didn't need or want to see this so instead of sticking around she simply jumped down out of the box and landed gracefully on the ground before walking over to take her position next to the proctor.

The entire stadium was silent as Airi all but strutted onto the field. Everyone from Konoha already knew how this fight was going to end but all the foreign spectators were anxious. If the prince of Oni fought the way he just fought, how did the princess fight?

Hotaru herself could hardly hear anything the proctor was saying. She was mad. And she was fed up with seeing Airi hanging all over Toshiro all the time. Sure, she left. Sure, he obviously wanted nothing to do with her anymore but this, the hanging over him, the flirting, she was just sick of it. Even though she couldn't do anything about it she wanted it to stop.

She wanted _her_ Toshiro back, she didn't really care that it probably wasn't going to happen she wanted it anyways. She wanted to be able to go up and hug him whenever she wanted, to be able to sleep in the same bed again because that was the only way she got any sleep. And Kami be damned, she wanted to know that Toshiro was_ hers_, not Airi's but _hers_.

Hotaru didn't even hear the proctor announce the fight began. What she noticed or better yet heard was Airi, who now had a kunai in her hand, say "I'm going to beat you for Toshiro-kun. I'm going to show him how much better I am than you."

That did it. Something in Hotaru cracked. She wasn't going to drag this fight out, wasn't going to give Airi a chance to know what was coming, wasn't going to give anyone a show. She was going to end this fight now.

Before Airi could move, before anyone could really know what was happening, Hotaru activated her eyes. All Airi was the blue swirl of Hotaru's eyes before she felt herself being whirled back, her insides screamed at her as the chakra shot from Hotaru's eyes tore up her chakra system, and the wind was knocked out of her as she hit the concrete wall behind her.

No one moved, no one breathed as Airi's form slumped down. The proctor went over and checked her vitals. "Winner: Oujo no Onigakure." Everyone was too stunned to cheer. To stunned to move. In their eyes, Hotaru hadn't even touched her, they didn't even see her make an attack and yet Airi was out cold.

No one could see Hotaru's eyes as she walked out of the stadium.

Hinata put a hand on her husband's shoulder. "What do you think got her so mad?" She knew the signs of her daughter's distress and wished she could give her baby girl a hug.

"I don't know." Naruto said, the one time he had scene his daughter fight like that was when she was angry, what could have made her that angry?

As Hotaru walked back up the steps she thought about how these fights were about to get way more interesting. The only four left were herself, Takeru, Nozomi and Toshiro and now the tournament layout looked like this:

**Round two:**

Fight one winner: Sabaku no Nozomi

vs

Fight two winner: Uchiha Toshiro 

then

Fight Three winner: Ouji no Onigakure

vs

Fight Four winner: Oujo no Onigakure

Very interesting indeed. But she couldn't shake the little voice in her head that said something was coming, something bad.

**Ok, so I was originally planning to have the entire tournament in this chapter but it would've taken me about a month to write. Beside, that was the longest flash back ever (and one of my favorites so far.) Seriously. I hadn't even planned on it, it just came to me in a epiphany of sparkles and shiny, multy-colored lights. **

**And I was really disapointed because I had this really cool chart with the exam layout on it and it wouldn't work! Made me sad...**

**I NEED YOUR HELP! Ok, so I think I need a new story summary. The one I have now just doesn't cut it in my mind. If you have any ideas please tell me. **

**Any questions, suggestions or requests tell me. **

**Review! I love them! **

**Have fun with the cold! – M.R.S **


	22. pt 2 Chapter 7

…**Please don't hurt me. I know it's been a while people but this chapter was soooo hard to write! I personally think it's still a bit sucky but posted it anyways because I knew I couldn't wait any longer. There were too many emotions in the chapter for me to accurately describe and for that I say sorry. **

**Warning: the author of this fanfic does not have perfect (or half-decent) spelling and/or grammar skills. Please forgive her and read on. **

**Song: 'Just For' by Nickelback. Seriously y'all, the perfect song for Toshiro. **

Toshiro watched with distain as the three Oni-nins talked on the top of the arena wall. Or more it seemed as if Takeru and Hotaru were talking and Nozomi was listening and nodding as the other two talked to her with large hand gestures and a wide variety of expressions. He observed the red-headed one for a second. He had seen her fight in the previous battle but it wasn't like Kenta was much of a challenge, she probably hadn't been able to use any of her techniques to their full potential.

Toshiro had to brace himself on the metal bar inform of him as he fell forward, teeth clenched in frustration at the mental strain it took to keep from screaming out load. There he went again, down playing the people who were important to him. Could he do nothing right?

He took a deep breath and after regaining his normal stoic demeanor, looked to the stands just for something else to do. The entire stadium was up and about as there was a short break between the first and second rounds. He even noticed from the corner of his eyes how people were changing their bets. No one really knew how these next fights were going to turn out but at first the bets were all for Toshiro and other Konoha nin but now…well, let's just say they weren't.

He turned his head away in disgust, people didn't interest him. He didn't like people, well, he didn't like most people and to him right now all the spectators were just annoyances.

And so he turned his mind to the last thing left: strategizing. Ok. He could do that. Hotaru had told him to strategize and not to underestimate his opponent. He spared one more look at Nozomi. No, underestimating his opponent was not the best idea. He may not have seen the red-head fight to her full potential, but he knew that if she was on Hotaru's team, she was one of the best. She_ had_ to be one of the best.

The next thing he knew, the break was over, he was being called down to the arena and then he was standing in the middle of the arena across from Sabaku no Nozomi, who as far as he knew, could kick his sorry ass. He was not about to let that happen, not when Hotaru was watching.

"Begin!"

The youngest Uchiha was barely able to get his sharingan activated and dodge before a gust of sand came spiraling at him and he had to dodge. But it didn't quite work as the sand kept coming at him again and again and again. Bullets of it whizzed by his head almost too fast for his sharingan to see but ever so slowly it was getting easier and easier to see the oncoming movements before they happened.

Nozomi tilted her head to the side as she stood there unmoving. What was the point of moving if you didn't have to? This guy was Hotaru's chosen. Or at least that's how she saw it. And Hotaru was her better, so killing him was out of the question. He seemed strong enough to be deserving of the girl who she considered her sister. The red-head shortly considered the fact that this man, who was currently trying his hardest to dodge her sand and to impress Hotaru (or at least that was her theory), had been looking at Takeru with the intent to kill or something very close to that since they had arrived. That usually wouldn't have been acceptable to her but in her own way she knew that if he actually ever did try to kill Takeru, he would die so she let it go. Plus the fact that if she dwelled on that too much she would get angry and when she get angry she killed people and if she killed this particular person Hotaru would get very, very angry. And Hotaru being very angry was not something any mortal wanted to witness.

Nozomi noticed that her opponent was dodging her attacks with more and more ease. She concentrated a bit more and sent the sand swirling around her ankles zipping out fast and at more random angels. The spikes of sand went past him two at a time now, and Toshiro pulled out a kunai and after pumping chakra into it, used it to deter the sand away from him. He was getting tired of this and now that his sharingan had fully adapted to the speed of Nozomi's sand, it was time to attack.

Takeru frowned as he watched Toshiro leap away from Nozomi's sand trap easily. Way too easily for him to be comfortable with. "It seems your little student is getting too full of himself out there. One would think that he plans to win."

Hotaru growled at her brother. "He is going to beat her."

At this the elder twin chuckled, not fazed at all by his sister's behavior. "So confident in your work?"

"He's not 'my work.' He's strong and he's stronger than she is. I wouldn't say it if it weren't true. Nozomi's going to lose." Hotaru snapped back at him. She didn't mean to be in such a bad mood but she was getting more and more agitated by the second.

Takeru recognized this and stepped behind her and gently put his hands to the sides her head and gently massaged healing chakra into it. He would drop this for now, but his face hardened as he scowled while he watched Toshiro –who had been on the offensive for the past few minutes trying and failing to get a jab at Nozomi with kunai and shuriken- begin to finally form hand signs.

Hotaru sighed as her brother's healing technique cleared her thoughts and made her mood lighten. She was able to focus and for that she was grateful. She needed to be focused on this, focused on supporting Toshiro. He really was doing a better job this time. He was going all out and that made her happy, happy to know that he still listened to her if only a bit. She smiled and looked down to the field – ready to cheer Toshiro on – but was met with a pair of angry black eyes. The only eyes in the world that could make her flinch.

Toshiro's blood boiled and his mind was sent into a furious haze as he saw Hotaru's serene expression. He was down here trying his hardest to come up with a plan to beat a very tough opponent and she was up there in his arms. He really couldn't do anything right could he? Could he?! Not even when he tried! He turned his fury towards Nozomi and the sand rushing towards him. All his anger, all his trouble went into the large fireball forming in his chest and he released it in an echoing scream as the large ball of fire grew and grew until it blasted out towards Nozomi.

The red head's eyes widened at the sudden and unexpected attack as she put her arms out in front of her and the sand in response swarmed up in the wide space between them to guard her from the blast.

Dozens of pairs of eyes widened as the fire engulfed all of Nozomi's sand which fell to the ground and shattered into millions of pieces of sharp glass. The redhead's face was as stoic as normal but Toshiro – who was still panting from his giant release of anger and energy – was staring at the glass between him.

The crowd was silent and everyone was tense before all of a sudden a piece of glass shot up and stabbed Toshiro directly in the shoulder. He hissed in pain and Hotaru's eyes widened. She couldn't contain her self as she lurched forward across the rail "Toshiro-kun! Watch out!" Takeru had to restrain Hotaru from jumping into the arena as Toshiro was stabbed five more times by various shards of glass that impaled his skin and sunk into his arms, legs and torso.

Hotaru was screaming inside. In her mind she was seeing a younger Toshiro being impaled by dozens upon dozens of thorns. In her mind she was seeing again how she was that useless eleven-year-old girl who could do nothing but stand and watch while her best friend almost got impaled to death. Takeru held fast though, and didn't let his sister go and soon she stopped struggling and became completely still in his arms.

But that was all Toshiro needed. Even as he stood there impaled by five pieces of large glass and watching the other shards being to hover in the air under Nozomi's power, he felt great. He could win this, because Hotaru still wanted him to win this. The glass began to hover around Nozomi as she studied her opponent. He was hurt but….he wasn't. This confused her and in her mind the only thing she knew to do was hurt him more to see what was wrong with him.

She flung another glass shard at him but it was deflected as soon as it was in three feet of Toshiro. There was a slight crease in her brow. She tried again and again it was deflected, this time further away. Toshiro smiled and that's when Nozomi felt it: the giant electrical current in the air. She propelled five more –this time with a bit more chakra infused in them – and two hit him but again he didn't seem to care as held both of his hands out in front of him and concentrated.

Nozomi knew in a way what was going to happen and all the glass shards came around her and begin to slowly fuse together and she compacted them to make them into a prism-like shield around her. She could still it out of it so she saw when Toshiro began running around her at a very fast speed, she could still tell even as she stood there when little bolts of electricity began to hit her shield at different angles and the glass slowly began cracking.

She put her hands out in front of her and braced. Her plan was when the glass shattered from Toshiro's electric attack to send them out in all directions and hopefully impale Toshiro once more. But that attack never came. Some would say that when the glass shattered Toshiro sent out more than one electric current and that's what knocked the Oni-nin out instantly. But others when they would tell the story of this battle, would tell of how, as the glass shattered, Nozomi saw a pair of demonic black eyes with golden slits. But no one is ever too sure.

The second the proctor announced the match over, both of the other Oni-nins were on the field. Takeru helped the medic-nins put Nozomi on the gurney before he turned to Toshiro, byakugan blazing, and made a step towards the other man but was stopped by his sister. Even though Hotaru had to look up about a foot to look her brother in the eye it was obvious whose glare was more intimidating.

"Go with Nozomi." Hotaru said in a calm, commanding voice. Takeru gave one more look in Toshiro's –who was trying to refuse a gurney, claiming that he could still continue on with the matches with seven pieces of glass impaled in him- direction and Hotaru took one step closer to her brother. "Now." **(Participants can't get official medical attention during the tournament)**

Takeru nodded before following his fiancé's gurney to the medical ward. Hotaru turned to the proctor. "There will be a short break until the Ouji no Onigakure returns from the medical ward." The proctor raised and eyebrow but nodded. He had no authority to question a foreign princess and wasn't about to question this one. "One more question. The rule is no 'official' medical attention. Does that mean if a fellow participant treat another's wounds, it's still legit?"

Again the proctor raised an eyebrow, sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I guess that wouldn't be considered 'official' attention and it's not in the rules, so I suppose so."

Houtaru nodded and thanked the man right before he announced a short break. She walked over to Toshiro, who was cringing with every move he made because of the physical exertion he put on his body right after being impaled. Hotaru smiled at the medical-nins before kindly telling them that she would take care of it and signaled to Toshiro to follow her.

As the two progressed slowly up the stairs, Hotaru waited patiently for Toshiro to make it up by himself. It was a half-awkward silence the entire time when they finally made it to the contestant's box.

"Sit." Hotaru said and Toshiro did so immediately, propping himself up against a wall. Hotaru bent down and her hand immediately began to glow gold as she held the glowing hand against Toshiro's chest and with the other removed the first shard of glass almost painlessly but Toshiro twitched a bit as he felt something pull. "Stop moving." Hotaru focused on healing up the hole the shard left before removing the other two glass shards that were in his chest, the three in either one of his arms and the one in his leg. "Where you seriously planning on fighting in the third round with these in you?"

Toshiro shrugged. "Better than not fighting."

Houtaru smiled as her hand stopped glowing and she stood up. "Touché." She reached out her hand and pulled Toshiro up before walking back to the entrance to the stairs. "Just sit there for a minute or two." were her last words before she disappeared.

Toshiro blinked. She was cold, she seemed unattached. But…. _"Toshiro-kun! Watch out!"_ …. She may have still cared, if only a little.

As Hotaru stepped down the stairs she saw her brother leaning against a wall. She smiled. "She ok?"

Takeru pushed himself up using his back. "She wouldn't be if it weren't for me. I swear those medical ninjas don't know a needle from a senbon. I personally wouldn't let them heal me if my life depended on it."

Hotaru held her tongue, not wanting to mention to her brother that tequnically a needle and a senbon were the same things. They began walking down the hall to the arena. "So, we're ok?" Hotaru asked.

"Of course, we both can be a little bit protective of them. Completely understandable." Hotaru laughed lightly. Sometimes she was incredibly grateful of her brother's understanding, forgiving nature. Though she had to admit, it made some things way to easy for her challenge-seeking personality.

"So," Hotaru started but Takeru cut her off. "Just full of questions, aren't we?" Hotaru stuck her tongue out in response but continued her question. "So, you ready to put on a show?"

Takeru just smiled as they walked out into the arena.

"Next match: Ouji vs. Oujo no Onigakure." The proctor's voice was drowned out in a roar of cheers and applause. This is what they had all really been waiting for: seeing two Oni-nins in a battle. When the proctor raised his hand and began going over the rules –which neither ninja on the field were listening to - again the crowd when totally silent watching and waiting for the battle to begin. Hotaru smirked. She found the whole thing quite funny, but who was she to deny the crowd what they wanted?

Before the proctor could even finish the rules there were the brief flash of metal and two blurs of fabric before both of the twin's coats – two of their most precious items – were hanging by the collar from a kunai that was embedded high up on either side of the arena wall. The proctors jumped a bit at the movement he had hardly been able to see, glared a bit at the two but continued on with the rules.

Naruto groaned and everyone in the Kage-box turned their heads towards him. "A problem, Onikage-sama?" One of the Mizukage's guards asked.

Hinata giggled as her husband slouched a bit in her seat and the nine members of the Oni council did the same. Naruto turned and gestured towards the field. "They took their coats off."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "And?"

Naruto glared. "I was getting to that." He took in another deep breath – just to annoy Sasuke before continuing. "When they were little, I used to come home from work everyday and usually Hotaru or both of them would want to 'spar' with me. Of course I would go easy on them and they both noticed and were not very happy about that. So one day Takeru suggested an idea and then told me to 'take my coat off.' It's basically our signal for 'we all know whose going to win this fight, but we're going to make it look like we're both evenly matched and make a big show of it.'"

Everyone just sat there for a moment before Naruto sighed again; he thought he had been perfectly clear. "Basically they both know who would win in this fight, so instead of an actual battle, they're just going to put on a giant show where they're fighting, but they both know who's going to win in the end."

Just as he finished speaking all eyes turned towards the field. Not because the proctor had said begin yet, but because to massive energy sources were beginning to swirl and spike from the middle of the field. The energy was almost palpable as it began to swirl around each individual twin in turn.

The air filled with it to the point where the walls began to chip and crack and the rocks around them were upset and hovered above the air. "Begin!" The proctor screamed before jumping out of there as quickly as he could, he didn't want to stay in there any longer than he had to for fear of his own life. However nothing seemed to happen. If anything, the massive energy in the air seemed to disappear completely until all was eerily still.

Takeru was standing up while Hotaru was low to the ground for a few still seconds, neither of them moving. Each twin was trying to 'intimidate' the other by seeing who could radiate the bigger power source. Both Toshiro, Itachi and Sasuke activated their sharingans, knowing that they would need it for this fight.

Suddenly, both of them lunged themselves forward and met in the center of the field in a flurry of taijutsu attacks. Their movements were completely lost for a moment before both of them were propelled backwards towards the opposite walls with such force that the crevice Takeru had made to keep himself from hitting the wall was five feet deep and Hotaru – who didn't really care all that much – hit the wall with such force that she made a person shaped hole in the wall and all the concrete in a ten foot radius of her body was cracked.

Takeru just stood up, hardly even panting, and Hotaru got herself out of the wall, popped her neck, and then they both were in the center of the arena again, throwing swift punches at each other that were a combination of Hyuuga style and their own technique.

Neji, who had long since activated his byakugan, shook his head as they where both propelled toward the opposite walls again but this time Hotaru turned herself so she kicked off the wall – again leaving a rather large area of destroyed concrete – and torpedoed herself towards her brother and again there was a large boom as she forced him into the concrete. "Kami, every time those two go at each other close range I see at least half of their chakra points get closed and every time the chakra slips past them like they weren't even closed."

Naruto chucked as Hotaru was slammed into the opposite wall again and Takeru emerged from the hole his sister had just created from slamming into him, water now hovering around him and both of his arms outstretched. "And they're both still warming up."

Hotaru's eyes widened as she saw her brother's water and she turned herself and began to scale the wall when she saw him concentrating all of his chakra to his hands. Takeru held out his hands and between them formed a large spiral of spinning water before the water formed into a midair whirlpool and surrounded Takeru before forming large limbs of chakra infused water. Hotaru made a face, he just had to go there didn't he?

She jumped up in the air to dodge one of the water arms that came barreling toward her. Her hand began to glow black as she deterred water away from herself but soon was caught as a smaller arm wrapped around her ankle and slammed her once again against the wall before slinging her into another wall each time making a bigger indent in the concrete. Tsunade grimaced. She was going to have to buy a new stadium because of these two.

Almost the entire stadium expected Hotaru to be unconscious as she dangled from the whip of water but instead her arms where crossed and she was glaring at her brother in annoyance. Besides that showed no signs that she had just been repeatedly slammed into concrete walls with a force that could have easily killed someone.

She quickly drew five kunai and hurled them at her brother but as soon as she did her other ankle and wrists were bound by three more small tentacles of water. However, the second the five kunais hit the ground they exploded. Or at least that's what Hotaru had planned but Takeru's water engulfed them and swallowed the explosions causing the dangling blond the growl in frustration.

Takeru smirked and twelve spikes of water began to form near his feet. He knew one thing and one thing only as he watched his sister struggle to get free of the water's hold: the only way to scratch Uzumaki Hotaru was if you tried to kill her. There was just no other way. If you weren't going all out, you wouldn't be able to survive five minutes in a battle with her. And that's what he planned to do, he planned to last more than five minutes in battle with her, even one like this.

The crowd held it's breath as it watched the twelve spike of water launch through the air. Hotaru's eyes widened and using the power in her eyes she was able to knock away seven and by twisting her body she was able to twist away from three but one still hit her arm and then the next one hit her full on, the end of the spike going through her stomach.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw the water impale the blond. "He's good." The Uchiha whispered.

The crowd was silent but Takeru cursed himself over and over again. Toshiro smirked as his eyes registered what had happened. He looked at his father from across the stadium with a triumphant smile and as if talking to the older Uchiha he whispered "She's better."

And poof. 'Hotaru' disappeared.

Takeru didn't waist a second to bring all of the water around to hover close to him as he retreated to the left side of the field and immediately began creating hand sign after hand sign in a sequence so fast a complicated one would get a headache if they tried to follow it.

Naruto's face widened into a smile and in a little sing-song voice he said "This is about to get good."

Takeru finished his hands sign and sat with his body coiled and his hands in their final sign. He looked over to the other side of the field which seemed to be completely still. He narrowed his eyes and ignored the perspiration beginning to form on the side of his face. "Come out, come out wherever you are."

Everyone was on the edge of their seats, waiting. Waiting for something, anything to happen.

Then something did. The ground shook and rocks flew everywhere as a giant mass of black chakra exploded from the ground and spiraled up into the air. At the same time Takeru released his attack that had been building up and the water around him copied the movements of the chakra almost to the point. The water and chakra spiraled and wove around each other until both masses finally took the shapes of two twin dragons. The water dragon's white eyes glowed as it reared back in a roar; Takeru controlling it from the center of its forehead. In response the black dragon roared as well while Hotaru stood on top of it, not need to be apart of it to control it like her brother.

The Twin Dragon Justu. It wasn't a very original name but it served its purpose. Each twin obvious controlled half of the jutsu but the two halves had never been put against the other before.

The water dragon went on the offensive first, lunging towards the chakra dragon's neck and latching on, causing the chakra dragon to roar in response. Hotaru growled and locked eyes with Takeru. He was being completely serious about this now; she saw it in his eyes. That meant – by their deal – that she had to now fight with total seriousness as well.

The black dragon roared as it lunged forward and the black chakra enveloped the water, swallowing it up and squelching it. Hotaru leaped off her dragon as it took its twin down before jumping through the head of the dying water dragon and grabbing her brother. As soon as Hotaru removed her brother from the water dragon, it splashed to the ground and its twin roared in victory as it continued to swirl around the arena. The twins crashed into the wall – or rather Takeru crashed and Hotaru was able to push off the wall as her brother fell to the ground.

The chakra dragon coiled up, as did Hotaru as she landed at the base of it. When Takeru landed on the ground, he landed on his feet but was hunched over and panting heavily.

But he wasn't done. What more could you expect from an Uzumaki?

Takeru stood up, still panting and held out his hands, palms up and Hotaru, curious, jumped down to the ground still standing in front of her dragon.

The crowd watched eagerly as on each of Takeru's individual fingers, a separate little rasengan was forming. Takeru straightened up, and took one large breath before shoving a burst of energy through his arms and out of his fingers, sending the swirling ball of chakra forward into the air where they grew in size as all ten headed straight toward Hotaru.

Hotaru made no move to dodge. Instead the tail of the dragon whipped out in front of her and took all ten blasts with ease. Takeru blanched as he watched his sister raise her own hand and her own rasengan began to take shape…

Takeru quickly raised his hand and huffed out. "Ok. I give, I give. You win this one, for Kami's sake! Give me a break, woman!"

"Ouji no Onigakure has surrendered. Winner: Oujo no Onigakure." The proctor – who had to blink a couple times to make sure he wasn't gaping – announced.

One person clapped, then another, then another, and slowly the entire stadium erupted in applause and Hotaru smiled as she watched her brother fall back on his ass before sprawling out on the ground.

Hotaru walked over to Takeru after and laughed at his exhausted expression. He smiled up at her. "A guy just can't cut a break with you, can he?" Hotaru laughed and shook her head as she helped him up off the ground and patted him on the back but he ended up falling into her. "You might want to get rid of your big, scary chakra beasty there."

Hotaru smiled as she helped her support her brother with one hand and used to other to suck the chakra back into her body.

"Damn Naruto, what did you feed those kids?" Tsunade asked rather bluntly. Even if the battle had been short, the amount of chakra that had just been expelled by two people – who were both currently still standing and breathing fine – was the equivalent of about a hundred normal shinobi.

"Well, I always did think that Hinata-chan's food tasted a bit funny but I wasn't about to say anything." Naruto was rewarded with a glare from his wife and she turned away from him. "Aw, come on Hinata-chan, you know I was only kidding."

"Naruto." Naruto paid attention this time, Tsunade's voice was serious. "Those children of yours…." She didn't know how to finish her comment as she watched Hotaru jump up and quickly receive both of their coats.

"And this was them contained to an arena. You give them an entire valley and see what they do to that." Raku's voice was bored, that was hardly anything entertaining if you had watched some of the twin's other 'spars.' Or as the people of Onigakure liked to call them 'Indoor Days.'

The crowd's jubilant cheering was the exact opposite of how Toshiro was feeling at this moment as he watched Hotaru support the man who had not two minute ago been her opponent. They were laughing and smiling and he took a deep breath out.

Ok.

It was ok. He had finally seen with his own eyes what the big deal was. Takeru was obviously a better man then he was if not more….no, he was still more attractive. _That _was something his-royal-highness could not take away from him. But from what he had just seen, Takeru was strong. Strong enough to take care of Hotaru and be everything she needed. Fine. Ok. He was done. He could accept it and…no, he couldn't move on.

But if she was happy then he could get over it.

Once Hotaru had helped Takeru over to a gurney to be carried to the medical ward (where he refused to be treated), the proctor looked up at the stadium. "If the second contestant could please come down, we could get started with the Final Round of the Chunin Exams."

"Congratulations Tsunade-sama, it looks like you're finally going to get to finish a chunin exam this year." Temari stated.

Tsunade nodded as she looked over the restless crowd. "It does indeed." She did another once over of the stadium. All the people were excited. Whether they were discussing the upcoming battle, replacing their bets or just sitting there, there was not a bored expression in site.

Sasuke exhaled sharply as Toshiro walked down onto the field. If someone asked him to tell them what Toshiro was feeling by the look on his face, he would have to say that he couldn't. If he was judging by his son's eyes, he would say Toshiro was lost, already defeated but if he was judging by the way Toshiro's jaw was set and the expression on the rest of his face he would say that his son was determined yet at the same time stoic.

"Begin!" the proctor yelled after relaying the normal rules ect, ect, jumped out of the ring and the crowd fell silent. Most of them hadn't seen any even this entertaining in years.

**(I was going to leave it here, but I couldn't bring myself to do it)**

Hotaru didn't take her eyes off of Toshiro as she reached back into her pouch and retrieved a scroll. The Uchiha kept his appearance stoic as she used her teeth to untie the string and rolled it out before biting her thumb and running it over to ancient scrawl on the inside of the scroll. As two twin _poofs _were heard he reached his hand out and caught the ruby-studded metal hilt of an extremely well crafted katana.

He knew that there was no need to examine the blade for any jutsu that would act against him, Hotaru didn't play like that, but that didn't stop him from examining the weapon in his hand. He tested it out a few times, swiping it through the air and marveling at the sleek, light design of the sharp steel blade.

The flicker of light across the other blade brought his eyes – sharingan activated now – to Hotaru's own katana. He recognized it as her personal sword because of the gold veins running down the obsidian blade with an onyx studded hilt.

"Let's see how much you've improved." Hotaru said, her face had also taken on an emotionless expression.

Toshiro's sharingan began spinning as he powered more chakra into his eyes and he lunged forward and the clang of the two kantanas shrilled through the air. Hotaru's eyes were wide at Toshiro's quick speed, she was impressed.

"You got better." She noted as the both recoiled before their swords met again, this time with Hotaru in a defensive block.

Toshiro smirked, he had long since figured out how to track Hotaru's quick movements even if it did require a lot of his chakra. "Have you?" Hotaru growled and spun away from Toshiro before quickly spinning back and going for Toshiro's back. Again her sword collided with his but this time he broke the connection and swung forward, aiming for her stomach, and forced her to swipe back.

As Hotaru landed she flinched and put her hand on her stomach and her eyes widened in surprise when she found the fishnet cut through and blood on her hand. She looked back up at Toshiro and suddenly saw what she had missed: electricity was pouring out of Toshiro's blade. That must have been what had scratched her. He had learned a new trick.

That annoying smirk was back on his face as he twirled the blade as if he had no care in the world. "I thought _you_ were the one who told _me_ not to underestimate my opponent." As soon as he said this he found the air knocked out of him as he hit the concrete wall of the arena.

As he stood up again, now with a large bruise forming on his back, he looked at Hotaru who was standing there glaring at him. How could she still have that much speed after she just fought Takeru? He had seen her get slammed into the walls multiple times a lot harder than he just was.

He grimaced as he saw her stomach. The fishnet was still cut but the tan skin there was flawless. _'Oh yea, that's how.'_

He pumped lightning and chakra back into his sword and jumped up before kicking off the wall and into the air where Hotaru met him. He had to steady himself – which was very difficult in the air – when the force of Hotaru's sword met his own. She had to pushed chakra through hers and he flew back through the air before pushing off the wall again and meeting Hotaru in the air again however this time he tried to trick her by changing his attack at the last second but it proved to no avail as her sword met his again.

They did this a few more times before finding that it was leading no where. The next time Toshiro's feet touched the wall he used chakra to plant his feet before sending a large lightning infused fireball out of his mouth.

Hotaru slammed her hands together and using her fingers spilt the fireball in half and each half hit the walls behind her. When she blinked she immediately knew something was different.

The stadium was perfect. There were no craters in the walls or on the ground, no evidence of any battles at all except for one crack in the wall a few meters long on the opposite side of the stadium. And it was strange. She could still hear the incessant roaring of the crowd like she had the entire fight but the stands were empty. Even the Hokage box was vacant.

Her head jerked up as she heard a crow sound. There, sitting on the top of the arena wall were dozens of crows, there eyes all completely black. Hotaru's eyes widened as they took flight and dove, razor sharp beaks coming straight at her. She tried to move but found that she couldn't. She started tugging on her limbs wildly trying to move her body but she was completely immobile and she barely had time to brace herself before the giant flock of birds flew past her, their beaks slicing her leaving large gashes along her skin in every direction.

She was panting from the pain as they flew away but she tensed up again as the circled around, put their beady eyes back on her again and began to form another diving formation.

'_Oh, hell no.'_ she thought to herself and this time as the birds began diving again. Two tails of chakra shot towards the birds and began knocking them off their course any way possible. The blond used one to bat away all of the birds and the other one to defend herself against the ones that her first tail might have missed.

The entire time her eyes frantically searched the stadium. Her eyes livid were from her mind's focus on both defending away all the birds and searched for….ha! She growled as she sent a third chakra arm flying, the end of the arm formed itself into the shape of a hand as it shot towards the crack she saw in the wall.

Toshiro gasped as his breath was blown out of him by the impact. Hotaru had figured it out and by the looks of it she wasn't happy. His eyes were wide as he took in her form. Her pupils were dilated, her eyes wide, her nails looked more like claws and the whisker marks on either side of her face were darker.

The 'hand' around him tightened before shooting up in the air and releasing him. He thought he would be able to get a landing somewhere but he was wrong. Another arm of black chakra hit him dead on, knocking straight into another one.

Naruto grimaced as he saw the three chakra arms basically beat up Toshiro in mid-air. "That wasn't a smart move on his part, Hotaru absolutely hates genjutsu. She doesn't like to use it and she doesn't like it when it's used on her."

And she didn't. She hated the thought of someone controlling her mind and making her sense things that weren't there. It nearly drove her to the point of loosing control.

Toshiro braced himself for the next hit but it never came. He dared to open his eyes but wished he hadn't as all the chakra arms slammed down at the same time and he fell to the ground with a boom.

Hotaru walked over to him slowly before picking him up by the collar, her eyes still wild. "Never again." She warned him before throwing him away from her and into a large rock on the other side of the field.

She took a deep breath, realizing she may have gotten a little too out of control. The sound of birds chirping sent her eyes towards the dust that was clearing from Toshiro's impact but he wasn't there. She followed the sound up to see him standing on the wall, a powerful chidori coming to life in his palm.

Over the years, Toshiro had figured out how to add even more power to the chidori by combining fire with it so the normally lightning attack now sparked both its normal blue-white as well as orange and red flames.

Hotaru smirked. Well if that was how he wanted it, fine. She powered chakra to the soles of her feet before jumping up and sticking to the wall.

She held out her own hand and black and gold chakra began spinning into a large rasengan.

At the same time, each ninja pushed off the wall, their powerful attacks winding up and ready to release a powerful blow.

"Rasengan!"

"Chidori!"

As the two came closer to each other, the crowd held its breath, waiting for the explosion of raw power that would come from these attacks.

But that explosion never came.

**(Again, thinking of just stopping here but onward!) **

Toshiro screamed in pain as something slammed into him and latched onto his neck, knocking him out of Hotaru's line of fire causing her to fly past her intended target. She couldn't stop, not with the amount of momentum she had built up and she could do nothing but what Toshiro crashing down to the ground as the power from her rasengan sent her through the thick arena wall.

Everyone immediately took defensive positions, even Naruto and the Council tensed and the ANBU members in the crowd jumped to attention at the front of every seating box.

A cackle-like laughter was heard as yellow eyes scanned the crowd before focusing on a livid Sasuke and tense Itachi. "You two had to know that if I couldn't have you, I would get the next best thing." Orochimaru snickered as he removed his mouth from Toshiro's neck and held a kunai up to the boy's neck.

Toshiro grunted in pain as flame spread from his neck to the rest of his body and it was all he could to know scream. Sasuke flinched in sympathy, his hand coming to rest on the place where the curse mark was but had long since been sealed by the Kyuubi's power at the Valley of the End.

ANBU members jumped down into the field but where blocked by Orochimaru's men, all of which were able to easy capture the ANBU in a hold with a weapon of some sort ready to strike and kill.

Orochimaru cackled again and Tsunade glared from the stand up position she had been in since Orochimaru revealed himself as the snake's gaze was focused on her. "Now, now Tsunade, let's not be rash about this. First, why don't we all just sit down and listen."

Tsunade lowered herself to her seat slowly and Itachi grabbed Sasuke's shoulder and forced him to back up a few paces as well. "Good, now, since I got what I wanted so easily" Orochimaru started with a sick smile motioning to a still pained Toshiro who was close to passing out from the pain. "I'm willing to give you a choice."

"That choice is to call off you're ANBU and allow me and my men to leave the city quietly with the boy. I'd let you have time to prepare your defenses before my army burned you to the ground. If I were you, I'd consider this option. My army is waiting not far and could be here at any minute." The smirk didn't leave his face.

"And what army would that be?" Tsunade managed to grit out through her teeth.

The sadistic smirk widened. "It's amazing how many countries will willingly give over their military power for my disposal when you promise to defeat an enemy that they all fear. I have you to thank for that Onikage-sama."

Tsunade's fist tightened. She knew Orochimaru – if he was telling the truth about the army – was right. At least if they had time to evacuate the city and alert everyone then…but Toshiro. Tsunade's face hardened and Orochimaru smirked. "Good choice, Tsunade-sama."

A pair of gold and black eyes watch the scene but unlike the rest of the viewers who were looking at Orochimaru, she was more focused on the contorting form of the youngest Uchiha with the kunai to his neck.

The Oni-nins had been prepared for something like this. If they wanted to, they could take out Orochimaru right now and still have time to prepare the city for the armies attack with little problem.

But as the eyes observed Toshiro, it was clear that this was not the same thing that happened to his father. The mark was already appearing on his neck and it took way longer with Sasuke's curse mark.

If the Oni-nins went up against Orochimaru's army now, there would be no time to help Toshiro and if no one helped Toshiro... Time, just a bit of time was all that was needed. The eyes fixed on the scene in front of them with conviction, knowing what must be done.

With a yell, a black and orange blur came at Orochimaru who merely turned and landed an easy blow to the stomach, sending Hotaru to the ground, the wind knocked out of her along with consciousness.

The crowd, who had been silent before, was now totally still.

"Hmm, I smell power. And would you look at that blond hair and those whisker marks. She should be very useful." Orochimaru said that last part while looking at a surprisingly stoic Naruto.

Naruto looked at Tsunade before nodding slightly. Tsunade's face was still hard as she looked to Orochimaru. "Return with your army, Konoha will be ready."

Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked frantically at Tsunade then at Naruto who stared back. An understanding passed between the two as Sasuke turned with clenched fists as he watched Orochimaru throw his son at his largest man who already had Hotaru hanging limply over his shoulder.

Orochimaru's men released the ANBU who could do nothing but watched as the enemy walked out of their clutches unharmed and without a fight. It was all it took for every ninja in the arena and even some of the villagers not to attack the leaving enemy nin.

As they walked out of the arena entrance Hotaru's hand twitched. It wasn't much but it was enough to form a…a sign? Naruto saw this and nodded to seemingly no one.

The village was silent as Orochimaru and his ninja walked out of the village exit as if they owned the place with two of the most powerful ninja in the world in tow; one unconscious and one in unspeakable pain.

"Nii, Yon and Hachi, help the ANBU evacuate the city. The rest of you are with me. Hinata, do you think you could go get Nozomi and Takeru out of the infirmary now and then get the rest of our ninja and meet me at the north wall." Naruto said standing up immediately.

"Hai!" the eight members of the council said and dispersed immediately and Hinata nodded, recognizing when Naruto had to take charge.

"Naruto?" Tsunade asked as the others there looked at him with confusion.

"Tsunade, do you honestly thing that Hotaru would have let both herself and Takeru be taken by the enemy without a plan?" Tsunade was taken aback at Naruto's statement.

"Then what is she doing Naruto?" Shikamaru asked in a calm, calculating voice.

Naruto looked at his old friend. "Buying us some time."

Outside the walls of Konoha, an 'unconscious' blond ninja peeked out from beneath her closed eyelids. This was humiliating, being carried on someone's back like a common sack of potatoes. Knocking her out in one blow, ha! She could have snorted if she didn't have to pretend to be unconscious. Knocking her out in one move would require her to be drunk off her rocker and even then it would take _at least_ four.

Her thoughts ended when she saw Toshiro's tortured face. It was alright because it was for him. She stared at his face for a second before another tremor of pain passed over his features and his face contorted and she saw him bit his cheek to keep from screaming out in pain.

She turned her head to the other side to make sure that anger didn't overcome her.

A low growl erupted from her throat. She was going to be kicking some serious ass before all this was over.

…**.Tada? Please don't be too harsh, this chapter was so hard for me to write. **

**Any questions or comments review please and I will answer them. I love reviews in general!**

**The next chapter will be out a lot sooner because it'll be a lot shorter than this one and will be a lot easier for me to write. **

**- M.R.S **


	23. pt 2 Chapter 8

**Ok people, I know it's a short chapter (for me) BUT something really important happens in the chapter and I felt as if it had to stand on its own.**

**A song I found that I really like for Toshiro and Houtaru (though it probably would have applied more in the last chapter) is 'Battle Field' by Jordin Sparks. I was listening while I was writing pretty much the last 3/5 of this chapter.**

**Everyone give a thank you to my beta ****Fluffy the Cat Demoness ****for correcting my spelling and grammar errors! She is amazing and **_**everyone **_**knows I needed help in that area.**

**READ ON! **

A lone figure stood on the North wall facing away from Konoha, his black and orange coat flowing gently as a slight breeze blew by. Blue eyes narrowed on the horizon, knowing that there was an army out there waiting to destroy the silent city behind him.

"Onikage-sama?" Yon said, appearing behind him with four other Oni-nin.

Naruto nodded his head in acknowledgement and the elder ninja continued. "All of your orders have been carried through. The citizens are safe with the younger ninja guarding them and all able bodied ninja are ready for battle and positioned along the walls waiting for any instruction."

Before the blond man could respond, several more figures appeared on the wall behind them, Tsunade and the Mizukage among them.

"All is done with our ninja as well, and the scouting party has determined that Orochimaru is almost to the halfway point between his army and Konoha." Naruto nodded shortly at the Mizukage's words, knowing that it wouldn't be long now until Hotaru made her move. He knew her well enough to know that she would not allow herself and Toshiro to be closer to the army than to the village.

"Have your scouts determined the size of the army we are up against?"

Everyone held their breath, most hoping that the answer that they had thought up was incorrect but they were shortly proven wrong.

"Larger than any army ever formed in the past three hundred years but, as per your request, they didn't get close enough to determine the actual number."

No one knew what to say. Shock, fear, and disbelief paled everyone's faces, all except for the few Oni-nin and the Onikage who merely nodded. "Very well then."

"'Very well then'?" Tsuande asked in disbelief before her temper and fear got the best of her. The feeling of failure was still boiling inside her after letting Orochimaru escape unscathed with the two children only a few short hours ago and it was all coming out now. "'Very well then'?! So, what? We're just supposed to sit here and wait?! What are we even waiting _for_ Naruto?"

Naruto looked at his mother figure with a calm face, not affected at all by her frantic, angry tone that had made most of the others there cringe. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?! We're up against Kami knows how large an army and you basically want us all to sit here, without a plan, and wait for some unknown miracle?" Naruto's face still remained impassive as Tsunade's voice rose higher until the elder woman was near to hysterics.

"Tsunade-sama, trust me. I will know what to do when the time comes. I know putting the hands of your city and all these lives in the hands of a teenager sounds crazy, but Hotaru is…Hotaru is, quite frankly, our best bet right now. You know as well as I do that any defense or attack that we come up with will do nothing against that army. I do not plan to do anything more than the preparations that have already been made without her and neither do any ninja from Onigakure. And, from my perspective, it looks like we have a bit of time to spare." At Naruto's statement, every Oni-nin nodded their head and made sounds of agreement.

Just as Tsunade was about to go off once more, Jiraiya clapped a hand on her shoulder, making her turn her head to look back at him. The two exchanged a look before Tsunade sighed and put her head on her old teammate's shoulder.

Jiraiya rubbed his old friend's shoulder for a moment before looking back at Naruto with the same hard, practiced expression. "I hope the child knows what she's doing Naruto."

Naruto simply shook his head slightly before looking back out to the horizon. "One thing that Hotaru is not, is a child."

After his words the dead silence resumed, every single person who was not in hiding looking at the same spot over the horizon where doom was lying, waiting to attack them when given the signal. Their only hope was somewhere between them, and that doom. Hotaru and Toshiro were still alive and well and there was nothing any of them could do except wait. The army was too big, the time too little, and their chances of survival too small.

'_Come on Hotaru,'_ Naruto pleaded silently to his daughter. To say he wasn't fearful would be a lie, but he knew his child and he knew that she had a plan and that she would be back before the army _'surprised them.'_

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_Pain. That was all he felt. It coursed through his body like wildfire, never ceasing as he lay on the cold stone floor, eyes clenched tight to try to make it stop._

_Why wouldn't it stop?_

_He couldn't even find the strength to scream as another wave of white hot agony washed over him like a million flaming hot needles impaling his body again and again._

_As his body contorted and convulsed violently on the cold, dark floor, his eyes opened while a silent scream was torn from his lungs, his eyes meeting a pair of evil yellow ones on the face of a large purple snake, venom rolling off the creature's fangs as it seemed to mock his pain._

_He could feel another wave of pain building before this one even ended and he could do nothing but let it come. But it didn't. Or rather, it did, just not as intense as it should have been._

_He opened his eyes again to see the snake fighting with another creature. A golden wolf with black tipped ears was his savior. Every time the snake hissed in agony as the wolf swiped at it with sharp claws, the pain seemed to dull some from agonizing to simply torturous._

_Toshiro's head fell back to the hard ground as the pain still washed over his body, but still the wolf fought the snake and still the wolf seemed to be winning._

_Then it happened. For only a moment the snake was about to get the higher ground and a pale fang sliced through the golden fur…_

"Shit!"

Pain coursed through Toshiro's head as he sat up abruptly and slammed back into the hard object that he was propped up against. The throbbing in his head only worsened when he realized that the pain was back full scale, his hands fisting into balls because of it. It was as if whatever was helping before had totally left his body.

His senses, though not as acute due to the pain, slowly came back to him. First, his eyes slowly adjusted to the almost completely dark, small space that he was in. Then, some feeling came back and it felt like whatever…container he was in, was moving and if he closed his eyes, he could manage to hear the sound of voices coming from outside the box but he couldn't quite make it out through his pain induced haze, his mind only really able to handle one sense at a time.

It was for that reason that it took a minute for the fact that the curse hadn't come from him to sink in, for he was past the point of words at that point. It took him a minute to realize, through his pain induced haze, that the unidentified party was still speaking.

"Teme! What the hell was that?!" Hotaru cursed lividly, the back of her head throbbing slightly. She had been caught off guard when Toshiro had sat up abruptly and the back of their heads had smashed into each other. And Kami knows that both the teens had very hard heads. The force of the impact had been enough to shock her aoi-byakugan off for a moment, all the gold chakra she had been pushing into Toshiro's body to break past the curse seal's chakra had slipped back out into her own body.

Letting out a growl as she realized that just sitting there brooding over a hurt head wasn't doing Toshiro any good, she readjusted herself in their awkward back-to-back position, quickly switched her aoi-byakugan back on and grabbed Toshiro's clammy hand in her own to begin forcing the healing chakra back into him, focusing all that chakra into his neck. She was becoming increasingly frustrated with the damned mark. As much as it seemed to dull Toshiro's pain a bit, which she had only been able to tell because she had felt his body relax a bit, it wasn't doing anything against it. She couldn't seem to destroy whatever it was that Orochimaru had put in his body, nor could she lock it away or reverse it.

Toshiro groaned once more, feeling the pain dull down just enough to allow him to gauge his surroundings for another moment. It also gave him enough observational prowess to notice that he was currently bound to something from the waste up. There was no mistaking who he was with, even if he was a breath away from death he would remember Hotaru's voice and the feel of her hand in his. "Where are we?"

Hotaru rolled her eyes. Typical Toshiro, not even giving any indication that he knew it was her. "About a good three hours away from Konoha. We were captured by Orochimaru."

The raven scowled. Of course he remembered _that_. He didn't think he would ever forget that face and then the blinding pain in his neck before he had blacked out. From all the times he had overheard his father talking about the man, he could guess who it was.

He hissed at Hotaru in a cold voice, making his voice hard to hide the pain that he was in at that moment. "Well I know that, dobe. I mean what are we being held in, why can't I move, and why aren't we back at home?" It didn't matter who or what had captured them, if they had been captured for three hours, Hotaru should have gotten them out of whatever trouble they were in by now.

Hotaru had a good mind to let Toshiro feel the full effects of the curse mark's pain for a moment. She scoffed at his ungrateful and predictably rude attitude but answered his questions anyway.

"We're in a steel, chakra enforced and resistant box at the moment, being carried to Orochimaru's army. The reason you can't move is because his cronies tied us together with chakra resistant rope, and the reason we're not back at home is because Orochimaru won't send his army to attack as long as he has _us_, at least not until he gets back to wherever the army's camp is. I don't want to escape until I feel like Konoha's had enough time to prepare."

She conveniently left out the little fact that she had basically given herself over to be captured for Toshiro. He obviously didn't want nor need to know that.

Toshiro gave a curt nod. He was completely prepared to ignore the blond for now, but he needed to know what had happened to himself. All he really remembered was Orochimaru's smirking face and then the blinding pain before everything had gone dark.

"What-"

"What happened to you? Orochimaru put one of his curse marks on you. It's different from the one he put on your father and I can't seem to-" Hotaru's words of frustration were interrupted by a disinterested 'hn.'

"Just hurry up and heal me so we can get out of here."

Hotaru squeezed his hand to the point where he cringed in pain. If he could have seen her eyes right then. he would have been begging for forgiveness. Her eyes were cold, harsh, and demonic as they stared daggers at the metal wall infront of her. She felt her canines and nails elongating.

'_How. Dare. He….How __dare__ he!'_ Here she was pushing herself to the brink of frustration trying to heal him and he…he. She…she shook her head furiously. No. She wasn't even going to respond to such a thing. She just continued to glare at the wall, putting all her efforts into cracking past the curse seal and ridding him of it so they could get out of there and away from each other as soon as possible, but god damn it! She could feel the effects of it spreading still. She could feel it killing him. In the most likely case, Orochimaru had undercalculated the effect of the seal on the body and instead of converting all of Toshiro's chakra, it was killing him.

'_Killing him…'_

And no matter how much of a complete and total jerk he was being, Hotaru would never let that happen.

The two teens lapsed into silence, neither willing to break it at that point.

Toshiro bit his tongue as the pain just continued to grow more intense with each passing second. Even though he would never have express it, he was sure it would have been much worse if Hotaru wasn't there.

As he begin to try to think of something else besides the pain, it began to occur to him very slowly that _she_ was here with him. She didn't have to be captured along with him, there was no way, if she had chosen to fight back, that Orochimaru could ever have captured her. To think of it, if she had really wanted to, she could have taken out Orochimaru, all of his ninja and then easily gone and defeated the army. He knew she had done something similar once and he was sure she could do it again.

So why? Why would she wait to do the inevitable? Why would she wait to save them all?

'_Because if the village had been under attack, no one would have taken the time to save you.'_

The idea swirled around Toshiro's head. It sounded so…preposterous that if a wave of new pain hadn't washed over him at that moment, he would have laughed. There had to be another reason why. Why would she sacrifice a chance to kill Orochimaru just for him? She didn't care about him anymore. But why then…

"Why are you here?" Toshiro asked, some of his physical pain taking effect on his voice. He could feel his body becoming more and more exhausted as it tried to fight off Orochimaru's mark. He didn't know how much he had left in him before his body just gave up.

"Why are you such an ass?" Toshiro mentally cringed at the venom in Hotaru's voice. Maybe he hadn't been quite right in his words earlier, but he couldn't help it. Well, he could have, but at the time he hadn't wanted to. But now, when there was some hope of her still caring…

He sighed and shook his head and tried again in a softer voice. "Please, why are you here? Why didn't you just save Konoha first and then worry about me?" He didn't mean to add that second part, he just did.

"Because I wasn't going to let you die." There -short and simple- was his answer.

"I don't understand why you did that for me." Toshiro said in a tired voice after another pause, once more trying not to reveal how much pain he was actually in. But he was so tired now and the pain was so constant in his body and was still spreading, slowly creeping up into his chest after having already traveled to every other place in his chakra system.

"Oh really? And why's that?" Hotaru almost growled out. She couldn't decide which she was more frustrated about: Toshiro thinking that she wouldn't come and save him, or that she couldn't heal him even as she tried so hard to focus her gold chakra to the curse mark, she couldn't take control of it and reverse it. She could see the purple chakra spreading with her eyes, she could see it trying to take over his lungs and soon enough his heart.

Toshiro's voice, though weak, tired, and in obvious pain, was still dark and held so much regret and resentment that it seemed unnatural even if it was slightly masked by the pain. "If you had just let me die, you could go on being with Takeru without any regret."

Hotaru froze. Everything. Her chakra even immediately recoiled out of Toshiro causing him to flinch as the full effects of the pain enveloped his body, causing his head to fall forward and Hotaru to immediately pour her chakra back into him again. Even though she had done that though, her mind was stunned.

Did he just say…she thought about it in her head. Yes. He did. _'Being with Takeru.'_ …That _idiot_. Was he serious? No, he couldn't have been. There was just no way.

"Did you just say…so I could 'be with Takeru without any regret?'" she asked, and he was confused. Her voice was completely monotonous and revealed nothing. Of course he was serious, why would he joke at a time like this?

"Yes, if I died that would allow you to be with your new…whatever he is, without feeling any regret. Though it was probably a mistake to say it. You obviously don't feel any sort of regret what so -"

"Brother." Hotaru interrupted him.

Toshiro froze, the pain taking a back seat as he tried to process the one word Hotaru had spoken. "….What?"

"Takeru. He's my twin brother." Short and sweet. Toshiro's mind was reeling, part of him thinking that the pain was making him delusional.

"But you look nothing alike." Toshiro was slightly in shock and for some reason, felt that it slightly justified his thinking. He tried to think of the other things that had convinced him that they were…something. "You were talking about a wedding, though, and-and you asked for just two rooms."

"Nozomi's his _fiancé._ They're getting married." Hotaru could think of nothing to do but stare at the wall infront of her, not in rage, she was just staring. He thought she had gotten _engaged!_ That was just so…so _wrong_. That was the only word she could think to use as her mind was just, just stunned beyond belief.

The two teens lapsed into silence. The only sounds in their metal prison was the distance sound of wheels turning under them as the box moved and the slight sound of chakra flow.

Then a sound came from one of them. It started only as a slight noise, but then it grew and grew until Hotaru's eyebrows knitted together in utter confusion at the sound which she had never heard before.

Toshiro was laughing.

Not just a slight chuckle either, this was loud, slightly hysterical laughter.

Toshiro just couldn't take it anymore. All the emotional, mental, and physical strain was finally just too much for him and he had to get it out somehow. So he laughed, and laughed, and laughed. There was really nothing else he could do.

Hotaru drew in a shaky breath and right before she was about to respond, the laughter changed. With each breath Toshiro took, it came out more and more strangled until he was yelling in pain. He wrenched his hand from hers, clenching it as his body flailed and spasmed in the tiny space, his breath quickly leaving his body and his cries died down to strangled shouts as it became harder and harder for him to breath.

A string of curses came from Hotaru's mouth as her body snapped into action, arms easily cutting through the chakra ropes as if they were straw as she adjusted herself and Toshiro in the small space so that Toshiro's tortured body was on the floor of their prison and she was to the side of him the best as she could manage.

Her eyes quickly assessed the situation, though she knew it even before she took a close look at him. Toshiro had lost consciousness the second he had pulled away from Hotaru, his mind not being able to handle that much pain so it shut itself down the best it could to protect itself.

'Good,' she thought to herself, because what her eyes saw wasn't. The purple chakra was taking over his slowing heart. Each second the beats were becoming slower and slower and quieter and quieter.

Hotaru had to act fast, but the second she tried even touching Toshiro again, he cried out in pain and the deadly purple chakra in his system immediately attacked the gold.

"Damn it all!" Hotaru screamed in frustration as she watched the person she cared for the most mere seconds away from death. She turned her agonized eyes up to the metal ceiling of the box and yelled upwards, hands palm-up in surrender, hoping for some sort of miracle. "Come on, Kami! I know we've had our problems in the past but I swear! I'll do anything! Just don't let him die." That last part was spoken in a cracked voice as she looked back down at his still convulsing body and her throat felt tight.

Gently wiping the raven bangs off of his sweat soaked forehead, Hotaru felt tears welling in her eyes "Don't take him away from me." She whispered this one last time, already knowing that Kami wasn't listening to her and, if Kami was, then she was laughing at Hotaru's pain. Kami hated her. Kami only had control over human's and all things of the human world. Not demons. This was why the deity spited her so, because no matter how much Kami wanted it, Hotaru would always be the only one to have control over demons.

Hotaru's eyes widened in realization. Kami couldn't take Toshiro away from her if Kami wasn't in charge of Toshiro. Kami couldn't take Toshiro away from her if….and that would also mean that the curse mark wouldn't be able to affect him….

Quickly, as she could only just barely hear his heart now, Hotaru grabbed Toshiro's shoulders until he was propped slightly up against her. She didn't have time to think this over, didn't have time to think about the repercussions of her next action. This was her last resort and right now her only choice if she wanted him to live.

She looked at him with black and gold eyes, lupine features having come into effect now as her tail swished back and forth as much as it could in the enclosed space. She ran a sharp claw down his cheek, cutting a thin line in it as she went and licked away the blood before leaning forward to whisper in his ear. She knew that he most likely couldn't hear her but maybe, even a breath away from death, he would still recognize her voice.

"No one will ever be able to take you away from me again." Her voice was different, darker, smoother, and it held an air of power that hadn't been there before. She smiled, her sharp teeth and prominent canines shining in the dim light, as a tremor went through his body, different from the ones of pain that had been wracking through him.

Hotaru uncovered the pulsing curse mark on Toshiro's neck and scowled at it, her frown reflecting more than just her feelings toward the mark as she continued to talk to the unconscious man in her arms. "Not even you."

Snarling at the very thought of anyone trying to separate herself from the thing she desired in her life most for any reason, Hotaru bared her teeth before bringing them down forcefully on Toshiro's shoulder, right over the curse mark. Growling, she snapped her jaw over the area and hacked the skin with the glowing curse mark on it away.

Before Toshiro's body could even comprehend that a large chunk of its shoulder had been torn off, Hotaru cut a line across her hand with her teeth and pressed the bleeding wound into Toshiro's opened flesh.

"You will be healed with the blood of a demon." Her voice, powerful and meaningful, washed over the area inside the box which was about to burst at the seams with the sheer power radiating from Hotaru.

And like that, his shoulder was completely healed, the new skin and muscle having formed at Hotaru's command. But the poison was still in him, threatening to overcome his frail human heart.

However, the new pale skin formed was not that of a human, but Hotaru was far from done. She leaned down, a tear from her frustration earlier falling into Toshiro's open mouth before she leaned up and pressed her lips to Toshiro's still sweat soaked forehead.

"You will be cleansed and transformed with the tear of a demon, and your mind opened by the kiss of a demon." She looked at Toshiro's now shuddering form, knowing that the new tremors were not caused entirely from the pain, but from the power. Hotaru took one clawed hand and pressed all five fingers in a circle around Toshiro's almost silent heart.

"And your heart," Hotaru growled out, black and gold chakra swirling around the room originating from her hand, "will beat," she gave Toshiro's closed eyes a glance once more before baring her teeth at the sight of his practically dead body in her arms, "as a demon's heart." And with that, all five claws impaled the flesh around Toshiro's heart, the black and gold chakra, more powerful than what she was using before, pouring into his heart.

Toshiro screamed, a sound so completely out of sheer torture that all the heads of Orochimaru's travel party turned to the metal prison that three of Orochimaru's larger men had been pulling behind them.

All froze as they watched the box for movement. Orochimaru even stopped from his place at the front of the group to turn and stare. He smelled something. It wasn't _evil_. But it was... It was pure, blood-lusting, demonic power. Yellow eyes widened as the snake nin stared at the 'inescapable' prison that not even the most powerful ninja his men had captured had been able to escape.

Suddenly, the five pieces of the metal box rushed open with a bang, taking out four of the ninja caught off guard by the sudden action.

But still, no one moved. Pouring out from the standing figure where the prison used to be, was the most terrifying power any had ever felt. The feeling of it sent Orochimaru's men to their knees. It was worse than anything that Orochimaru had ever emitted and all cowered at the feeling.

'_Well, all except for one it seems.'_ Hotaru thought to herself as she saw with demonic eyes the fleeing form of Orochimaru. Tightening her hold on the form in her arms -which was radiating raw demonic energy- as he was larger than she, the Demon Lord sent one of her tails out to easily grab the snake nin by the ankles and dragged him back to her.

Coming face-to-face with the Demon Lord, Orochimaru was strung up by his ankles, meeting a pair of lupine gold and black eyes. Hotaru cocked her head to the side. This was him? How easy it would be to kill the annoying serpent now, but no, it wasn't her place to do so. At least, not yet.

She snarled at the snake hanging by the ankles before her, the snake who had caused the man in her arms so much pain. "Bring your army; Konoha is ready." And with that, the snake nin was unceremoniously thrown into a tree, crashing through that one and five more before hitting a rock and falling to the ground before the Demon Lord disappeared.

Orochimaru's men didn't know which was more fear inducing: the Demon Lord, calmed only slightly by the success of saving one she cares about from death, or the cackle that began after she disappeared into the woods.

Hotaru flashed through the woods, the three hour journey taking her only a few minutes to run as she tried not to look at Toshiro's transforming form in her arms, only holding him closer to her as she ran.

Leaping up on Konoha's North Wall, her first concern was to place Toshiro's limp body up against a wall, reaching up with a clawed finger this time to gently stroke the side of his transforming face. He was almost through with his transformation, but she didn't have time to judge properly as she heard the collective gasps behind her.

Hotaru quickly stood up from her crouched position and turned, seeing the looks of shock decorating all of the faces around her. She hadn't bothered to change back into her human form, nor would it be worth it seeing as she would probably need it soon enough. She wasn't as intimidating as she could have been, for she had calmed down enough to suppress her power.

"Houtaru." Naruto said, nodding to his daughter as he approached her, her ears and tails twitching slightly. They both knew it was no time to ask questions about her's and Toshiro's capture at the moment. What was important right now was preparing for the imminent battle, and their presence only meant that they had that much less time.

"Father." Hotaru responded, simply and shortly. Naruto couldn't help but give one of his famous smiles at the look on his daughter's face.

"You have a plan." It was a statement, not a question, and Hotaru returned her father's grin with her own small smirk before turning to address the small crowd who had gathered around them.

"I need seven strong, able bodied persons who will-" before she could even finish her statement, at least fifty hands were raised. Naruto's council all exchanged glances with each other; they all knew that none of these all-too-willing volunteers knew exactly what Hotaru had planned. Hotaru just sighed. "Please, wait until I'm finished. I need seven, strong, able bodied persons who are willing to put themselves confidently, and surely, on our front most line, directly battling the bulk of Orochimaru's army. This will not be an easy mission and I will require, more than anything, a sound, strong mind for the things I plan to throw at our enemies are not things that can be handled idly. And while I can tell you that you will not be alone out there, that I will be on the front line with you, I will not be watching out for you. It will be your job to watch out for yourselves out there."

Arms crossed infront of her, the Demon Lord raised a fine, golden eyebrow at the slightly shocked group before her. Hands had been slowly lowering as she spoke, but some were still obviously prosessing the information she had just given. "So, who's up for it?"

Slowly, ever so slowly, arm after arm began to lower but a smile worked it's way onto Hotaru's face as she saw saw seven hands still raised high and proud. But they also were held up with confidence, which is what Hotaru needed. "Then I need you all to move up here so I can give you something to help you with our mission."

"Leave him." Hotaru said to the medic nin who was making a move to approach Toshiro as she watched the seven people approach her.

"But-"

"Leave him!" Hotaru snarled out, her eyes glowing as the medic nin quickly fled her presence to the safety of the group.

Hotaru scowled as she watched the small man's back retreat, but her scowl faded into a knowing smile and she shook her head seeing the people in front of her. "Alright, one by one, please come up so that I may assign the roles you will play for this mission."

The blond smiled at her wise friend as Shika was the first to step up before holding out her hand. "Your palm." Shika gave Hotaru her hand, palm side up as Hotaru muttered to her as she raised her other hand to her mouth, and biting her thumb until it bled. "You all are insane." She lowered her thumb to Shika's hand and begin expertly drawing on her palm in blood. "But I should have known."

Shika tensed and let out a hiss as the blood smeared on her hand burned her skin and her eyes widened as it began to sink into her skin, leaving an ancient, blood-red mark in it's place, the writing a style that she had never even heard of. When Hotaru was done, Shika couldn't help but wrench her hand away, rubbing the burning, slightly glowing mark before looking to her powerful friend with a raised eyebrow.

Hotaru gave her a wolfish smile before saying one word. "Four."

Yoshio was next and she gave his palm the same treatment, blood still trickling out of her finger, but this time the mark was a bit different and as she stared at the bug user, she nodded at him. "Six."

"Five" Hotaru smiled after giving Kenta's hand the same treatment before doing the same to Michi's before saying "Seven."

When a pale hand was given to her, Hotaru sqeezed it and looked seriously into her sister-of-sort's teal eyes as she wrote on her hand in blood. "One." Nozomi nodded before stepping away and Hotaru sighed once, hoping that this would all be for the good.

"Now, now Taru-hime, why so glum?" Takeru cringed slighly as the blood began to burn his hand but kept a smile on his face and flexed his hand before placing it gently under Hotaru's chin before giving a soft smile. "We might not be as strong as you are, imouto, but we are strong."

Hotaru shook her head, knowing that her brother was right but also knowing that putting this kind of power in the hands of a human was extremly dangerous though the only real option she had. "Three."

A lump formed in Hotaru's throat as she accepted the last hand and begin writing on it. "I shouldn't let you do this." The small, tiger-like girl before her didn't even flinch as the blood began to seep into her hand. "But I'm trusting you not to die, will you at least do that for me?" Tora nodded, all too excitedly and Hotaru shook her head at her young, now apprentice and squeazed her hand. "Eight."

"I won't let you down, Hotaru-hime." She said. Hotaru sighed and together the two walked back to the rest of the group where Naruto clapped his hands together and turned to Jiraiya as they, along with Shikamaru and a few others began planning the defense systems if Orochimaru somehow got past Hotaru's offense.

Hotaru just let her eyes wander around the group and she sighed as she looked at the seven people who were about to put their very existance on the line for this village. She just hoped that they could handle the weapons they would be wielding.

As Naruto and Jiraiya were fine tuning their plan for the defense system , Michi's eyes widened as she pointed. "Hotaru! Toshiro-san, he's-"

Hotaru turned just in time to see Toshiro's form leaping away from the wall into the city. The blond watched for a few moments before turning back to Michi and nodded. "It's better that he isn't here."

The Hyuuga nodded in understanding, knowing her friend wasn't to be questioned as the last of the plans were finished and prepared.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I don't like this." Shika mumbled as she looked to the horizon with binoculars, absently rubbing the mark on her palm that had long since seeped into her skin.

Hotaru looked up at her friend with a raised eyebrow from where she was sitting beside the brunette on the wall, the group long dispersed and now they were all just waiting, waiting for something to happen.

"First it was 'wait for Hotaru to return' and now it's 'wait for them to make a move'? I don't like this plan at all." Even though it had been her plan, Shika's action side had problems with just sitting there and just _letting _Orochimaru make the first move. Hotaru looked out over the horizon where the army was coming from for a moment before taking a deep breath and answering her friend.

"So now we wait." Hotaru turned quickly, ebony streaked liquid gold pigtails swinging with her face as she looked at Shika with gold and black eyes. "And then, after we wait, we win."

**Ok, don't kill me. I know it's been forever since I last updated but life got in the way and that's all I have to say on the subject. Please forgive and I will honestly try to get the next chapter (and all it's actionably goodness) done sooner though it will be longer than this one. **

**So what'd y'all think? I mean I was finally merciful and they know now! **

**Thank you to all who have reviewed and I will ask kindly for reviews. I love them and thought reviews (flames or not) inspire me to write more and faster. **

**Questions or comments – review and I will answer. **

**-As I have been dubbed by my epic reviewer Ikasury **

**TsukiAmeKage**


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